Slowly but surely, more people in America can pursue their personal happiness. I am very happy that judicial activism has led to the recognition of homosexual marriages. Judicial activism, as defined by Thomas E. Patterson’s We the People, is the doctrine advocating judges’ active “interpretation of the Constitution, statutes, and precedents” when any branch of government ignore or abuse established principles. Although homosexual marriages are not legal nation wide, individual states have begun to give rights enjoyed by heterosexual couples everywhere. Currently only two states, Massachusetts and California, recognize same-sex marriages. States like Connecticut, Vermont, New Jersey, and New Hampshire created legal unions: not marriage in name but is essentially marriage. A hand full of states may not seem like a huge improvement but this progress may be the catalyst for further attainment of civil rights. To think, until 1967 there was not nation wide legal recognition and protection of interracial marriages!
It is unfortunate that the federal government does not recognize these marriages/unions. I do not believe the government should actively enforce “traditional values”. The government should protect our rights not only as citizens but as human beings. As human beings, people are lucky to find their soul mates so why deny anyone happiness simply because of something as arbitrary as sexual preference.
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It is very sad that here in America, here in the land of “freedom” not everyone has the same rights. Homosexual people still cannot get married in the majority of the states.
I don’t see why the government can’t grant this right to everyone, we all deserve to have the same rights, homosexual people also deserve to be happy and have a normal life.
They did not choose to have the sexual preference they have, neither heterosexual people nor bisexual people. The government should not uphold traditional values. Societies change, people change. It is not the government business to decide who gets married and who does not or what social values we should follow. We should have freedom to do whatever we want as long as we don’t hurt other people or ourselves. Marriage has to be a right for everyone. I just can’t believe that this is happening in the year 2008 in this country. I could have understood if this situation was happening 100 years ago or in other countries where people don’t even have the right to marry the person they want to marry.
But here in America? Year 2008? It is unbelievable. We all should wake up and realize how ridiculous it is that some people cannot get married and that discrimination still exists and not everybody has the same rights.
We have to understand that diversity exists, and we should tolerate each other in order to stand united as a society and to move forward.
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