The Importance Of Gay Rights In The United States

The United States of America has been rocked to its core by the gay rights movement in the past decade especially. Many aspects of gay rights have come into conflict with long-existing aspects of America’s oldest laws. One such case is the conflict arising when individuals running private businesses refuse service to same-sex marriage couples, domestic partnership gays, or civil union gays based on the owners’ personal beliefs. These individuals seek shelter under the rights granted to them by the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States, the highest law in the land. But as of late, the American courts have declared that the rights given to gays trump the rights given under the First Amendment. With all this hoopla, one may …show more content…
This may seem like a simple statement, but it is in fact creating much emotion-filled debate to this day. All Americans, liberal or conservative, religious or not, can agree that religious freedom is foundational to this country. To break it down into simpler terms, the First Amendment essentially says that no government related body is able to create laws that restrict the exercising of the freedoms listed above. Leah Farish explains it best in her book The First Amendment: Freedom of Speech, Religion, and the Press, stating that “a private group or individual has complete freedom to make religious or anti-religious statements; if a government-related body is involved and appears to hold or force on others a particular religion or anti-religious view, it will be …show more content…
That is American citizens being denied their constitutional rights, in the face of a decision that has no constitutional basis whatsoever. Business owners and property owners cannot decline to hire or rent to peoples affiliated with the LGBT group despite their religious or moral conscience. New laws in government schools has largely eliminated the requirement of parental permission for teaching children these sexual subjects. Doctors in California can no longer, for religious or moral reasons, refuse artificial insemination to a lesbian. The right of association is also gone, as owners of businesses and clubs are prohibited from exercising their First Amendment right of association regarding homosexuality. On the other end of the spectrum, one must also take into consideration the rights granted to same-sex marriage partners and the like. Under federal law, same-sex marriage couples receive equal rights as heterosexual marriage couples, including filing joint tax returns, inheriting each other’s Social Security and pension benefits when one spouse dies and the protection from having to testify against each other in court. In addition to federal benefits, each state also