The nine justices of the Supreme Court will hear arguments for and against same-sex marriage this week. They are considering Hollingsworth v. Perry on Tuesday, March 26, and United States v. Windsor on Wednesday, March 27. The court dates were fixed in January.
You may have heard of Hollingsworth v. Perry as "the Proposition 8 case." It takes up the controversial California constitutional amendment that forbids same-sex marriage. Gay marriage was previously legal in the state until "Prop 8" revoked the right of same-sex couples to marry.
The second case, United States v. Windsor, questions the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), a federal law that denies legally married gay and lesbian couples the right to obtain federal benefits available to heterosexual married couples. In about 20% of the nation (nine states coast-to-coast and D.C.), marriage between people of the same sex is legal. Civil unions are the law in five other states. Thirteen states forbid gay marriage.
One important issue in both these cases is whether family composition (e.g., same or opposite sex parenting) affects the well-being of children. This idea has been used to justify limiting the right of persons of the same sex to marry. However, most of the organizations concerned with same-sex parenting disagree. The American Sociological Association, for instance, has filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court outlining social science research that shows “children fare just as well” with either parenting arrangement.
“When the social science evidence is exhaustively examined—which the ASA has done—the facts demonstrate that children fare just as well when raised by same-sex parents. Unsubstantiated fears regarding same-sex child rearing do not overcome these facts and do not justify upholding DOMA and Proposition 8.”
David G. Savage of the Washington Bureau of the Los Angeles Times reports that public opinion has shifted markedly in the five years since California voters enacted Prop 8. A survey released two weeks ago shows that California voters now approve permitting same-sex couples to marry by almost a 2 to 1 margin. Savage thinks the shift could influence two potential swing voters on the Supreme Court. The activist president of a one group opposing same-sex marriage, Brian Brown, has called one of these swing justices in the opposite corner.
On the DOMA question, U.S. Solicitor General Donald Verrilli, Jr., has filed arguments with the court to strike down the part of the law that denies federal benefits to gay couples in the growing number of states that permit legal marriage. Verrilli advises that discrimination based on sexual orientation is similar to discrimination based on gender.
People on both sides of the issue are planning large rallies in Washington, D.C., in the coming week. District police have assigned them permits to gather in two different parts of the city to avoid turmoil.
By last midweek, dozens of coalitions urging changes in the laws (under the broad name of United for Marriage: Light the Way to Justice) had scheduled 150 local events (posted here) across the country. The opposing group, called March for Marriage (defining marriage in its traditional and narrower sense), is sponsored by the National Organization for Marriage (NOM). The group suffered four electoral losses in November. NOM participants will be wearing red, white, and blue.
The latest ABC News/Washington Post poll shows that 58% of Americans now say gay and lesbian couples should share the right to wed with straight couples. The number of people who see homosexuality as a choice rather than a state of being has declined to 24%, less than one-quarter of the nation. The majority on each side regards its arguments as constitutional.
The Supreme Court has announced it will release same-day audio of the gay marriage arguments at http://t.co/aWDVaVlw4N and http://t.co/93JC59wCFV (CC). The high court's decisions are expected by mid-June.
Based in Chicago, Sandy Dechert has been covering healthcare for Examiner.com since the webzine's official startup. She has followed the creation and progress of health care legislation over the past 20 years. Her work also includes other top health stories, such as the 2012-2013 influenza epidemic and the fungal meningitis outbreaks, and incorporates a focus on sexual and women's health.
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