Same-sex
Marriage in the State of Arizona
Introduction
In the recent times, homosexuality has become very
common. The laws that surround same sex marriages are quite complicated. Over
the last 20 years, numerous cases have been filed in the state of Arizona for
the rights of same sex couples to get married. These cases have established a
domino impact in the legislative changes and the transparency of the debate. In
2006, a proposed constitutional amendment concerning anti-marriage was rejected
at a ballot in Arizona (Polikoff 736; Stockland 63). For this reason, the state of Arizona
became the first in rejecting an anti-marriage constitutional amendment. Gay
marriage has been legalized in Arizona since the 17th October 2014. Initially, statutes banned same sex
marriage since the year 1996. It was later made legal, through an amendment of
the state constitution that was approved by a majority of votes (Scarpinato para 3).
Same sex marriage
Currently, gay marriage is
considered legal in the state of Arizona. The gay rights have been expanded in
a direction that many never imagined they would witness in their lifetime
(Lengell para 1). As the court decisions in the state of Arizona have overthrown
the laws prohibiting gay couples from getting married, the laws of state of
Arizona seemed doomed (Smith 20). A federal magistrate in Arizona once ruled
that barring same sex marriages was unlawful, though it was not allowed until
the attorney general of the state of Arizona declared later on that he would
not appeal. Legal professionals state that the future of Arizona law that defines
marriages only between a man and a woman is currently sealed. Arizona was among
the first states to authorize gay couple’s marriages (Mccombs para 1; Hollander 43).
Presently, the
administrators of Arizona county High courts cannot decline a matrimony permit
to any alternative suitable licensees on the reasons that the license allows
gay marriage. One lawyer in Arizona stated that, at present, the rights of same
sex to get married in the country are safe. This is because it is supported by
the ninth circuit ruling in other nations as well. The sixth circuit ruling did
not clearly specify if same sex marriages are illegal. Instead, the majority
supposed that, it was a question best solved through voting other than the
courts. The advocates of gay marriages actually began organizing the previous
year for a 2016 ballot measure, though their efforts did not advanced much
since that time as the focus was placed on a court solution.
Today, gay couples in
the state of Arizona are celebrating their newly won right of getting married (NCLR 4). However, their fight for
equality under the law is not over yet, for they are still facing potential
challenges when it comes to parenting and child adoption, workplace
discrimination among other issues. When it comes to terminating their
marriages, courts in the state of Arizona mainly consider the duration of
marriages, and not the duration of the relationship, when determining spousal
upkeep and allowance (Polikoff 737).
This at times results in financial heartache for the gay couples who may have
been together for a longer period but only agreed to legally get married the
last week.
The other states that
have authorized gay marriages have introduced common law tests assessing
commitments that couples made at various stages of their relationships as well
as when they legally got married. The lawyers in Arizona may do something such
as this. The state of Arizona is not among the thirty states with laws that
prohibit discrimination with respect to sexual orientation, possibly leaving
them susceptible to workplace discrimination. In terms of decisions concerning
health and death, gay couples who get married in the state of Arizona cannot do
anything special to claim the rights that have been opposite sex couples have
been granted, which includes having the authority of making health care and
death verdicts for a spouse. On the other hand opponents of same sex marriage,
including Governor Jan Brewer as well as the catholic bishops in the state of
Arizona have criticized the decision of legalizing gay marriages (Abc15.com staff para 2).
The issue concerning gay
couple’s marriage has been causing so much tension. Nearly, over the past 8
months, Brewer banned the bill that could have permitted religious beliefs to
be a protection against the claims of
discrimination (Associated press para 1).
Critics referred to it as an attack on gay couples and that it could permit any
law concerning gay couple marriages to be broken in the name of religious
liberty (McKinley para 2). This proposal
brought about a national debate and organizations including Apple Inc as well
as the American Airlines supported Brewer’s veto(Associated
press para 6). Conversely, Home stated that, he had done all he could
trying to defend the bar and that further backbiting would waste taxpayer’s
money. The possibility of the ninth
circuit overturning the current District court verdict is Zero.
The Federal court verdict
prohibits Arizona officials from putting into effect the 1996 state law and the 2008 voter
accepted constitutional amendments that
banned same sex marriage(Associated press para
18). Lawyers that were challenging the bar argued that the state law
infringed equal right protection as well as the due process rights and unjustly
deprived of their clients the advantages of marriage like the capability of
making medical decisions. Attorneys that represented the state struggled to
maintain the description of marriage as a unification between a man and a woman.
Moreover, that voters and the legislators enacted the prohibition for
protecting their right to describe marriage for themselves (Associated press para 10).
Among the very first gay
couples to legalize their relationship included Karen Bailey and Nelda Majors,
who were petitioners in one of the cases that disputed Arizona’s law. They had
been together for a period of fifty seven years and for a long time they felt
it was important that they kept their relationship a secrete ( Rau & Pitzl
Para 14). One of the lawyers in the 2 cases that challenged Arizona’s bar also
celebrated the historic development concerning the legalization of gay
marriages. The gay couples from the state of Arizona courageously defended the
right of equality for themselves. The lawyers in Arizona that advocate for gay
marriages feel that permitting their clients to wed causes no mischief to
couples of the opposite sex or any other person (Smith
9).
The very first gay couples
to obtain a marriage license after the legalization of gay marriage, said that,
initially they were forced to hide their identity for fright of job favoritism.
They felt awful because they were so proud of their relationship yet they could
not take any chances. They stressed on the fact that, it was not all about the
gender of an individual, but about whom you love. Cases challenging Arizona’s
gay sex prohibition has been circulating through the lawful course for quite
some time, but the recent development ended the issue. The state is part of theSan Francisco based circuit (Smith 9). However before,
granting that the verdict applied to the country’s matrimony law, a lawyer
named Horrne sought a suggestion from the federal court justice of Arizona that
listening to the two lawsuits that particularly challenged it.
The alliance that protects
liberty has become the lawful power that defend much of the conventional law passed
by the Arizona legislature that includes the traditional description of
marriage. The Catholic bishops in the state of Arizona insist on affirming the
truth concerning marriages and its advantages for the society. According to
them, it is their eager wish that the Supreme
Court will ultimately consider the concern of matrimony in future. With the
current rulings, the courts have disenchanted the will of the citizens and as a
result convince the authority of the state to normalize and defend their laws.
Conclusion
Today,
gay couple marriage is considered legal in the state of Arizona. The state has extended
rights of the gays, in terms of their relationship status. Arizona was among
the first states to authorize gay couple’s marriages. Presently, the
administrators of Arizona county High courts cannot decline a marriage permit
to the alternative suitable licensees on the reasons that the license allows
gay marriage.
Works Cited
Associated press. Arizona
Gove. Jan Brewer votoes ‘anti-gay’ bill. N.d. Web 26 February 2014.
NCLR. Marriage,
Domestic Partnership and civil unions: same sex couples within the United
States. Sept. 2013: 1-27. Academic Search Premier. 2015. Web.
Polikoff, Nancy D. “Two Parts of the Landscape of
Family in America: Maintaining Both Spousal and Domestic Partner Employee
Benefits for Both Same-Sex and Different-Sex Couples.” Fordham L. Rev. 81 (2012): 735.
Rau, Beard & Pitzl, Mary. First gay marriages
performed in Arizona. N.d. Web. 18 October 2014.
Smith, Alison M. “Same-Sex Marriages: Legal Issues.” CRS Report for congress, 2012.
Print
Lengell, Sean. Gay
marriage now legal in Arizona. N.d. Web. 17 October 2014.
McKinley, Jesse, and Laurie Goodstein New York Times,
News Service. “Arizona, Florida also Ban Gay Marriages.” Deseret News. Nov 06 2008. ProQuest. 14 Apr. 2015 .
Abc15.com staff. Arizona
leaders, groups react to historic ruling on gay marriage. N.d. Web. 17
October 2014.
Mccombs, Brady. “Ban on Gay Marriage Trails, but
some Mail Votes Aren’t in.” Arizona
Daily Star Nov 08 2006: A15. ProQuest. 14 Apr. 2015
Scarpinato, Daniel. “Ban on Gay Unions Solidly
Supported in most of Arizona.” Arizona
Daily Star Nov 05 2008 ProQuest. 14 Apr. 2015.
Hollander,
Barbara G. Marriage Rights and
Gay Rights: Interpreting the Constitution. 2014. Internet resource.
Stockland,
Patricia M. Same-sex Marriage.
Edina, Minn: ABDO Pub. Co, 2008. Print.
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