EQUAL PROTECTION: GAY RIGHTS

AP Government and PoliticsChapter 19: Wilson

Homework: Study for Multiple Choice Exam

What level of scrutiny should be applied to laws that classify gays differently?

Gay Rights and Equal Protection

We can’t be sure how much scrutiny the Court gives to cases concerning the rights of gays Likely the Court would apply a test near but perhaps

above the “intermediate scrutiny” test applied to women’s rights

Might this also imply a male-bias towards the rights enjoyed by different groups?

Which of the following are violations of Equal Protection? The Boy Scouts refuse to allow gays to serve as scout

leaders The state of Texas bans homosexual activity

Gay Marriage and DOMA In 1996, Congress passed and Clinton signed the

Defense of Marriage Act In part, it defines marriage as

“only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife, and the word “spouse” refers only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife.

It also gave the power to states to NOT give full faith and credit to gay marriages approved by other states. No State…shall be required to give effect to any public act,

record, or judicial proceeding of any other State…respecting a relationship between persons of the same sex that is treated as a marriage under the laws of such other State…

Many states have adopted DOMA as their law regarding gay marriage At the same time, 5 states and DC have legalized gay

marriage

Currently, 30 states have adopted marriage amendments. Only 5 states have neither a statute nor a constitutional provision prohibiting same-sex

"marriage": Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York and Rhode Island. Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, New Hampshire, and Vermont are the only states that

have legalized same-sex "marriage." Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Iowa leglized same-sex "marriage" are as a result of high court decisions: Goodridge (MA), Kerrigan (CT), and Varnum (IA). New Hampshire and Vermont legalized same-sex "marriage" as a result of legislation. Same-sex "marriage" is also legal in the District of Columbia.

New York's high court, the Court of Appeals, ruled in 2006 in Hernandez v. Robles that despite the lack of an explicit definition of marriage in New York, only the union of a man and a woman is a legal marriage, and this limitation is constitutional.

Our Question:

Does DOMA violate the equal protection clause? Some have argued that it also violates

the “Full Faith and Credit” clause, but we won’t be addressing that here