The Long Fought Fight for Marriage Equality

The+Long+Fought+Fight+for+Marriage+Equality

In 1969 a bar called the Stonewall Inn was a space where people of the LGBTQ+ community could feel safe and express themselves because this was a time of abuse and fear for the gay community, with laws preventing them from having the equal right of marriage. Same-sex marriage is not a privilege that people have been granted in the past. In fact, the first case of people who wished for this law to be granted was in 1970 by a couple in Minnesota, although their request was denied. (ProCon, 2020) Just a little bit later, in 1973, the state of Maryland jumps on the idea of samesex marriage becoming a possibillity, and cuts it down with a statute for banning it in their state. (ProCon, 2020) There has been a long fight for marriage equality for 50 years. Athough today we have laws inplace that allow people of the same sex to get married, it is far from perfect as people in the LGBTQ+ community are still discriminated against and oppressed.

It was only recently in 2015 that all the states of America legalised marriage between two people of the same sex. Shockingly, many states had kept the ban on same sex marriage for a long time, including up to 2015. The last states that independently legalised it were Oregon, Pennsylvania, Kansas, and South Carolina. They legalised same sex marriage in 2014 (“A Timeline of the Legalization,” 2020). There were 15 states that had not legalized same sex marriage up till the point of the 2015 laws.  This suggests to me, the people of these 15 states, and other conservatives in America, may feel that the freedom of samesex marriage is being forced on their societies. It could be that these people want someone in the federal government to reverse the marriage equality laws, and return their state back to the way it had originally been. Amy Coney Barret could have been back then and still might be the person that could do that for them, and be their “savior”.

President Donald Trump nominated  Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court on September 26, 2020. “Amy Coney Barrett’s history tells a story of anti-LGBTQ ideology, opposing basic rights thought to be settled law,” stated Lucas Acosta (2020) for the Human Rights Campaign. In the past, Judge Barrett has said things that cast doubt on transgender rights, referring to transgender women as “physiological males” (Acosta 2020). Judge Barrett aligns herself with extremely conservative and republican ways. These ways of being may stem from her religious beliefs, and affiliation with the Christian group, People Of Praise. Now that Judge Barrett is confirmed to the Supreme court, it will tip the scales in the side of the conservative Judges and they will have more power to undo marriage equality laws for LGBTQ+ people. Validating these concerns, “… Barrett… has indicated her disagreement with the 2015 decision” (Totenberg 2020).

Heteronormativity is the cause of all this discrimination throughout history, and all the way up till today. “Heteronormativity is the belief that heterosexuality, or a romantic and sexual attraction to the opposite sex, is the only normal sexual orientation” (Cummins n.d.). As I would put this quote, Heteronormativity is the idea that the “norm” in society is to be heterosexual. I think that heteronormativity affects a lot of things and is also present more than one would think. I believe that these issues previously stated in the first and second paragraphs are affected by heteronormativity, as there would be no need to fight for the rights of marriage for LGBTQ+ people if they were accepted in society the same way heterosexual people are.

Sources:

A Timeline of the Legalization of Same-Sex Marriage in the U.S: Introduction. (2020, July 29). Retrieved October 23, 2020, from https://guides.ll.georgetown.edu/c.php?g=592919&p=4182201 

Gay Marriage Timeline – Gay Marriage – ProCon.org. (2020, October 22). Retrieved October 23, 2020, from https://gaymarriage.procon.org/gay-marriage-timeline/

Acosta, L. (2020, September 22). Amy Coney Barrett is an Absolute Threat to LGBTQ Rights. Retrieved October 23, 2020, from https://www.hrc.org/news/amy-coney-barrett-is-an-absolute-threat-to-lgbtq-rights

Cummins, E. (n.d.). Heteronormativity: Definition & Concept. Retrieved October 23, 2020, from https://study.com/academy/lesson/heteronormativity-definition-concept.html 

Totenberg, N. (2020, October 05). Justices Thomas, Alito Blast Supreme Court Decision On Same-Sex Marriage Rights. Retrieved October 23, 2020, from https://www.npr.org/2020/10/05/920416357/justices-thomas-alito-blast-supreme-court-decision-on-gay-marriage-rights