Assignment 5: LGBT & Q Families

1. According to this article, 45% of Americans polled that they support gay marriage. This is news because gay marriage has been looked down upon for a very long time. This percentage is an increase from 1996 when only 25% Americans polled supporting gay marriage.

2. Proposition 8 is a ballot which took place in California in hopes of banning same-sex marriages. It has been a huge controvery, but, the federal court appeals Prop 8 because it was a violation of the 14th Amendment Constitutional Rights.

3. According to the Defense of Marriage Act, the definition of marriage in the U.S is a "legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife." A spouse can only be of opposite sex.

4. On May 6, 2009, Main legalized gay marriage. Some voters attempted to overturn the law, but it was not approved. The state passed the Defense of Marriage Act in 1997; which has a domestic partner law that offers limited rights to same-sex couples. Maryland was the first state to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman. However, in March 2012, Gov. Martin O'Malley signed the law legalizing same-sex marriages. This law will officially be in effect in 2013.

5. The legalization of same-sex marriages in NY is expected to influence the wedding industry in various ways. Two of these ways are: same-sex weddings will intially add hundreds of millions of dollars to the tourism industry & there will be a significant increase in sales for wedding dress and flower industries.

According to the UCLA demographer, the marriage rate for same-sex couples is 65% and 90% for straight couples.

Lesbians are twice more likely to get married than gay men.

Some sex-sex couples are choosing not to get married because their marriage will not be recognized in every state. Financially that could be a negative decision. In addition, some couples may feel as though the will never really have the same rights as heterosexual couples, so in the end they are still being discriminated against and treated unequally.