Gay Marraige - Interpretation of Constitution Reflects Changing Society

This summer the Supreme Court made two major rulings about gay marriage. First, it said that married same-sex couples are entitled to federal benefits and second; it officially allowed same-sex marriages in California after declining to decide a case there (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/27/us/politics/supreme-court-gay-marriage.html?pagewanted=all). There now makes 13 states that allow same-sex marriage in America.

            One of the questions that surrounds gay marriage is whether or not it is protected by the Constitution, since the constitution protects privacy. In 2010, the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy, which banned gay men and women from serving openly in the military, was ruled unconstitutional in California (http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/09/09/dont.ask.dont.tell/index.html). District Judge Virginia Phillips said that “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” violated the First and Fifth Amendments – the First Amendment protects us from Congress making a law that prohibits the freedom of expression and the Fifth Amendment protects us from being deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. Phillips said, “The act [discriminated] based on the content of the speech being regulated.” It was believed that the act’s restriction of speech was broader than reasonably necessary to protect the government’s substantial interests, and it actually served as an impediment for military readiness and unit cohesion.

            One of the things that I have noticed about the Constitution and the Bill of Rights while taking this class is that they have wording that is general, since there was no way of predicting future issues when it was written, and so the way that they are interpreted seems to be in line with whatever the majority believes is right at that time period. I do not think this is necessarily bad, but it reflects the changes that are taking place in the world when something is ruled unconstitutional that was apparently not in conflict with the law in the past. Homosexuality is something that has been the focus of music, entertainment, and celebrity endorsement over the last several years increasingly. Since actors, musicians, and athletes are usually the leaders of our society, their pro-homosexual messages have had an influence on and reflected the way that society thinks about gay marriage issues.