b**********5
发帖数: 7881 | 1 The Supreme Court has struck down a federal law barring the recognition of
same-sex marriage in a split decision, ruling that the law violates the
rights of gays and lesbians and intrudes into states' rights to define and
regulate marriage. The court also dismissed a challenge to California's gay
marriage ban, ruling that supporters of the ban did not have the legal
standing, or right, to appeal a lower court's decision striking down
Proposition 8 and clearing the way for gay marriage to again be legal in the
nation's most populous state.
Justice Anthony Kennedy, the court's conservative-leaning swing vote with a
legal history of supporting gay rights, joined his liberal colleagues in
both decisions, which will dramatically expand the rights of married gay
couples in the country to access more than 1,000 federal benefits and
responsibilities of marriage previously denied them.
"The avowed purpose and practical effect of the law here in question are to
impose a disadvantage, a separate status, and so a stigma upon all who enter
into same-sex marriages made lawful by the unquestioned authority of the
States," Kennedy wrote of DOMA. He concluded that states must be allowed by
the federal government to confer "dignity" on same-sex couples if they
choose to legalize gay marriage.
DOMA "undermines" same-sex marriages in visible ways and "tells those
couples, and all the world, that their otherwise valid marriages are
unworthy of federal recognition."
The case is Windsor v. United States, a challenge to the federal 1996
Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which prohibits the federal government from
recognizing same-sex marriages even in the 12 states and District of
Columbia that allow them. DOMA extended to more than 1,000 federal laws and
statutes, including immigration, taxes, and Social Security benefits.
Eighty-three-year-old New Yorker Edith Windsor brought the suit after she
was made to pay more than $363,000 in estate taxes when her same-sex spouse
died. If the federal government had recognized her marriage, Windsor would
not have owed the sum. She argued that the government has no rational reason
to exclude her marriage of more than four decades from the benefits and
obligations other married couples receive.
DOMA was signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1996.
With this decision, Kennedy furthers his reputation as a champion of gay
rights. He authored two of the most important Supreme Court decisions
involving, and ultimately affirming, gay rights: Lawrence v. Texas (2003)
and Romer v. Evans (1996). In Romer, Kennedy struck down Colorado's
constitutional amendment banning localities from passing anti-discrimination
laws protecting gays and lesbians. In Romer, Kennedy invalidated state anti
-sodomy laws, ruling that gay people have a right to engage in sexual
behavior in their own homes.
The decision marks the first time the highest court has waded into the issue
of same-sex marriage. Just 40 years ago, the Supreme Court tersely refused
to hear a case brought by a gay couple who wanted to get married in
Minnesota, writing that that their claim raised no significant legal issue.
At the time, legal opinions often treated homosexuality as criminal,
sexually deviant behavior rather than involuntary sexual orientation. Since
then, public opinion has changed dramatically on gay people and same-sex
marriage, with a majority of Americans only just recently saying they
support it. Now, 12 states representing about 18 percent of the U.S.
population allow same-sex marriage. With California, the percentage of
people living in gay marriage states shoots up to 30.
The Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group (BLAG) has defended DOMA since the Obama
administration announced they believed the law was unconstitutional in 2011
. (Chief Justice John Roberts criticized the president for this move during
oral arguments in the case, saying the president lacked “the courage of his
convictions” in continuing to enforce the law but no longer defending it
in court.) | t**********3
发帖数: 12623 | 2 homosexuality can be treated. | b**********5
发帖数: 7881 | 3 u mean can be treated to a night of wild fucking of ur stinky asshole??!
【在 t**********3 的大作中提到】
: homosexuality can be treated.
| m********s
发帖数: 55301 | 4 太好了，某些人不用担心结婚的问题了。
gay
the
a
【在 b**********5 的大作中提到】
: The Supreme Court has struck down a federal law barring the recognition of
: same-sex marriage in a split decision, ruling that the law violates the
: rights of gays and lesbians and intrudes into states' rights to define and
: regulate marriage. The court also dismissed a challenge to California's gay
: marriage ban, ruling that supporters of the ban did not have the legal
: standing, or right, to appeal a lower court's decision striking down
: Proposition 8 and clearing the way for gay marriage to again be legal in the
: nation's most populous state.
: Justice Anthony Kennedy, the court's conservative-leaning swing vote with a
: legal history of supporting gay rights, joined his liberal colleagues in
| t**********3
发帖数: 12623 | 5 No, it can be treated with medication and psychological counselling.
【在 b**********5 的大作中提到】
: u mean can be treated to a night of wild fucking of ur stinky asshole??!
| b**********5
发帖数: 7881 | 6 and u can be treated with a large dose of pearl necklace...
【在 t**********3 的大作中提到】
: No, it can be treated with medication and psychological counselling.
| t**********3
发帖数: 12623 | 7 I'm perfectly straight, and I have a very normal and healthy sexuality.
【在 b**********5 的大作中提到】
: and u can be treated with a large dose of pearl necklace...
| m********s
发帖数: 55301 | 8 你，回车版去码字去！！！！
【在 t**********3 的大作中提到】
: No, it can be treated with medication and psychological counselling.
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