The Legalization Progress Of Homosexual Marriage In America

Marriage is one of the basic social systems and has been considered for a long time since its emergence as the combination of the two genders. The moral ideals of human beings has been more and more liberated and diversified with the development of the society. For the latest half-century, the conjugal rights of the homosexuals have been pursued as the homosexuals become more and more recognized by the society.The United States of America, as the No.1superpower in the world, has great influence upon the whole world in politics, economy and culture. It is also where the legalization of homosexual marriage has sprouted and developed. However within the country pursuing liberty and democracy, the attitude of its people towards homosexual marriage is not as tolerant as one would imagine. The legalization of homosexual marriage has arisen since the day of its proposal wide controversy keeping on heating. The attribute of marriage, traditional morality, social system and religious beliefs have become the main debates.The legalization of homosexual marriage in the USA can be divided into the following three periods according to its historical progress:the first period is between1969and the1997, the Stonewall Riots in1969marked the beginning of modern gay liberation movement and the rights in the United States. The subsequent emergence of many homophile organizations such as the famous Gay Liberty Front, the Gay Activist Alliance, has played a great part in social movements fighting for gay rights. The second period lasted from1997to2004. During this period homosexual partnership acquired legal sanction though non-marital. As a result of mutual compromise between the homosexuals fighting for conjugal rights and the social objection to the legalization of homosexual marriage, such forms of legal sanction could not be equal to legal marriage, but they have laid foundations for legal sanction for homosexual marriage. The third period began with the year2004when the homosexual partnership acquired legal sanction in marriage form in some states. Since the legalization of homosexual marriage in Massachusetts in2004, the laws of9States and the District of Columbia so far have approved homosexual marriage. Public debates have never ceased on the controversial topic whether homosexual marriage should be legalized. The debates focused on questions such as whether homosexual marriage would cause negative influences on traditional morality, whether judicial decisions on homosexual marriage would influence American legislation, and the long-term impact of homosexual marriage on the whole American society. With a short history of its legalization in the USA, homosexual marriage needs to be treated with discretion in the future.The thesis mainly expounds the bones of contention as emerged within the progress of American legalization of homosexual marriage, and elaborates the importance of America legalization of homosexual marriage in the conjugal history and the legal history of human beings through sexual morality, conjugal system and the legal development trends.