Why Same Is So Different?

Why “Same” Is so Different!

Over the last ten years, homosexuality and the issue of same-sex marriage have been the most controversial topics in American society and politics, creating competing waves in legislation and regulations in either legalizing or banning the practice. Same sex marriage is the description of marriage between two people of the same gender. There are other titles such as gay marriage, same-gender marriage, or equal marriage. The topic includes a few debatable issues such as society’s acceptance, civil rights, and religion conflicts. When people discuss same sex marriage, their positions are usually based on human rights, social effects, and equality.

Historical events

According to the same-sex marriage history in the New York Times, on May 15, 2008, the Supreme Court of California voted that a state law banning same-sex marriage constituted illegal discrimination because domestic partnerships were not a good enough substitute. In its decision, the court wrote that whatever term is used by the state must be granted to all couples who meet its requirements, whatever their gender. The court left open the possibility that another term could denote state-sanctioned unions so long as that term was used across the board. Opponents quickly organized, and launched the Proposition 8 initiative campaign, asking voters to ban same-sex marriages. After an expensive and hard-fought campaign, the measure passed on November 4, 2008, with 52 percent of the vote. Groups who had fought Proposition 8 immediately filed suit to block it. On May 26, 2009, the state Supreme Court upheld the voter-approved ban but also decided that the estimated 18,000 gay couples who tied the knot before the law took effect would stay wed. However, in August 2010, a federal judge in San Francisco struck down the ban, saying it unfairly targeted gay men and women, handing supporters of such unions a temporary victory in a legal battle that seems all but certain to be settled by the Supreme Court. The judge initially stayed his order, leaving the Proposition 8 ban in effect, and then said it would be lifted as of Aug. 18, allowing same-sex marriages to resume. In January 2011, a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in San Francisco, asked the California Supreme Court for guidance on the issue of standing in a federal challenge to Prop 8. The order comes after former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and his successor, Gov. Jerry Brown, refused to defend the proposition in court. That has left the defense primarily to conservative legal groups and proponents of the measure.

Being Gay: Nature vs. Nurture

The ongoing debate of nature versus nurture continues to ignite as researchers and others alike search for the origin of homosexuality.

In relation to homosexuality, the