I chose to focus on marriage laws in America. Currently, there is a heated debate raging on whether or not same sex couples should be allowed to marry. I chose this topic because it is something I believe strongly in. I believe that the government should not play a role in whether or not two individuals of legal age will be married. I also chose this topic because it has been high publicized in the media and has attracted a lot of attention over the past few years. A song that I tie closely to this topic is “Same Love” by Macklemore. In this song, he says:
“It’s the same hate that’s caused wars from religion
Gender to skin color, the complexion of your pigment
The same fight that led people to walk outs and sit ins
It’s human rights for everybody, there is no difference!”
I think this is very well put and I may want to draw connections to same sex marriage and other civil rights movements throughout our history. Currently, there are only state laws, which dictate if same sex couples can be married. The Supreme Court recently over saw two cases on the subject and are currently debating. The judges are debating if the Federal Defense of Marriage Act violates equal protection guaranteed in the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause. These cases include appeals from states such as California, Massachusetts and New York along with many others. It is clear that within the next few months there will be many large changes made regarding same sex marriage in America.
I associate the following things with the subject:
- Wedding band ring
- Church
- Picketing
- Kissing/lips
- Supreme court/white house
- Hand holding
- Rainbow flag/colors
- Wedding cake topper
- Gender symbols
- Equal sign