Overview
The same sex marriage debate is a hotly contested topic that has polarized many factions of the American public. Most people in America have a tightly held conviction one way or the other and most of the information regarding same sex marriage available through the media is colored by the beliefs held by either the producers of the media or the audience the media is aimed towards. Finding a neutral point of view on the subject of same sex marriage is difficult at best and this article attempts to provide one.
History
The history of the debate over same sex marriages in the United States began in 1972, with the dismissal of Baker v. Nelson by the Supreme Court. The modern struggle began with Hawaii's Supreme Court ruling that that State's marriage ban was unconstitutional. Following the passage of DOMA in 1996, the debate has taken the form of court rulings against bans and legislative efforts reinstating those bans.
Current Status in US States
The current state of same sex marriage depends primarily on where in the United States one resides. There are currently five states that recognize marriage between people of the same gender: New Hampshire, Iowa, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont. The District of Colombia will join them later this year. Additionally, same sex marriages performed outside of New York state are recognized as valid even though they may not be performed there. Several other states recognize a union between couples of the same sex that provide most or all of the same civil protections and rights as heterosexual marriages.
However 19 states, making up most of the central part of the country and correlating fairly well with other indicators of social conservatism, have bans on same sex marriage outright and put limitations on other types of civil unions between people of the same gender. A further five have banned same sex marriages but made no specific laws against civil unions. The remaining states have enacted laws granting limited or specific right to same sex couples or blocked same sex marriages. Only New Mexico has no specific laws regarding same sex marriage.
2010 Bills to Legalize/Ban Same Sex Marriage
On a federal level, there is no recognition of same sex marriages. This is a reversal of the traditional stance for federal implementation of marriage efforts, which stem from the an attempt to keep the federal government neutral on the subject of interracial marriages originating in 1967. This stance on marriage was enacted in 1996 with the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), passed into law by President Clinton, which limits recognition of a marriage to couples of different genders. The lack of marriage recognition at a federal level prevents couples married in states that do allow same sex marriages from accessing any of the rights or protections that the status of 'married' allows. These include social security, Medicaid, hospital visitation rights, retirement benefits at the very least.
The current climate for same sex marriage is extremely contentious. On a federal level, President Obama has stated that he opposes the Defense of Marriage Act and would seek to get it overturned. At the same time, he's also said he's not in favor of full recognition of the status of marriage for same sex couples, preferring a civil union-style resolution to the federal status of marriage. This would allow same sex couples to access to the rights and protections DOMA currently precludes them from having without explicitly labeling such a union as a 'marriage.' Gay rights activists are currently pressing for judicial and legislative approaches to the state level bans, with several cases debating the constitutionality of such bans currently in the courts.
