Today The Globe and Mail, posted an article reporting about a Christian ministry that once claimed that homosexuality could be cured through prayer and conversion therapy.  They have now come to the realization that this belief is inaccurate and not founded in scientific research and continuing to perform this type of treat is ineffective.  The ministry came to this conclusion after much consideration and claimed that they now understand that homosexuality is not a preference or a life style decision and instead is an innate feature that cannot and does not need to be cured. This new conclusion did not come easy to the ministry.  In 2008 they published a research article that claimed to support reparative therapy. This article clearly stands in opposition to their beliefs today.  By supporting their old position, the ministry realized that they were denying the right of those who are homosexual to engage in healthy same sex relationships. Homosexuality is not a disease, as the American Psychological Association removed it from their list of disorders in the mid 1970’s, and we should not be promoting a cure or treatment for it.  Instead we should be supporting those in same sex relationship and not treating them like second class citizens.  This means that they should be afforded the same rights as those in heterosexual relationships. It seems as though the ministry understood this because during their announcement that made their closing official, the leader of the ministry apologized to all people they may have hurt with their beliefs and reparative treatments.

Recently the United States government has been changing their position on same sex marriage.  Up until a few recent policy changes, the United States government has opposed same sex marriages, even as more and more states legalize it.  Currently the Supreme Court has a case where they are considering overturning the Defense of Marriage Act, DOMA, which states that the federal government will only recognize marriages that are between one man and one woman. This shift also coincides with a shift in policy regarding homosexuality as a whole. The defense department has changed its policy of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, where military members could not be openly homosexual and serve in the military.  The military now accepts openly gay service members.  Another shift in American government was seen when the State Department celebrated LGBT Pride Month in an effort to stand up against the human rights violations that occur when same sex couples are not allowed to marry. This brings society one step closer in the right direction.  Obviously there is still much more work to do to bring the United States to a place where these basic human rights are not being violated day in and day out.  With more education for our children and even adults there remains hope that someday same sex marriage will be recognized as well as the gay community as a whole as equal.  This issue is now becoming the main civil rights issue of today and it seems possible that there could be formal legislation that makes everyone equal in marriage.

In the state of New Mexico, the debate of gay marriage became a very hot controversy at the same time that a gay couple filed a lawsuit against the state.  The lawsuit was filed by Mr. Hudson and Mr. Hanna.  As reported by the New York Times, it was affirmed that the rights of the citizens of New Mexico are being violated by the new decision of the state attorney that denies marriage licenses to homosexual couples.  The definition of marriage in the New Mexico constitution is a civil contract for which the consent of contracting parties capable in law of contracting is essential. Interestingly enough, this definition makes no specific mention of sex or gender.  The constitution says that marriage is a legal contract between two people who can make decisions.  More than 50% of the citizens of New Mexico approve of marriage between two people of the same sex.  Even with this much public support, there are still some politicians who do not approve of these types of marriages and will do anything they can to leave marriage defined as between a man and a woman, like Governor Susana Martinez who expressed her opinion against gay marriage and reaffirmed that marriage should be between a man and a woman.  On the other hand her opponent in the next election, Gary King, expressed support for gay marriage, but also said that it was not within his authority to create legislation which is done by the state congress.

Mr. Hanna and Mr. Hudson being denied the license by the Santa Fe County clerk on Thursday. They filed suit afterward.

Human rights violations are occurring every day.  One major violation revolves around restricting the rights of those in same sex marriage to legal be considered married.  In an article from CNN, the author states that the United States is ready to step out and embrace same sex marriage, which would put an end to the human right violation that the ban on same sex marriage has had (Brazile, 2013).  By not allowing same sex couple to become legally married, the United States has condemned these couples to suffer punishment such as “psychological distress and higher levels of mental health and well-being in comparison to single adults and those in cohabitating heterosexual adult partnerships” (Riggle, Rostosky, & Horne, 2010).  These consequences are what make banning same sex marriage a human rights violations because a specific group of people are forced to take on a hardship that others are not.

Being able to be in a legally recognized marriage acts as “a protective effect against depressive symptoms, stress…”  (Riggle, Rostosky, & Horne, 2010).  It seems to be a violation to unfairly expose a specific population to the dangers of depression.

Another violation of rights occurs because same sex couples are not privileges to the same legal rights that a heterosexual marriage brings. “In the United States, fewer than one in four same sex couples live in a jurisdiction in which some form of legal recognition of their relationship by state or local government is available” ((Riggle, Rostosky, & Horne, 2010).  Why should so many people be without the same legal rights and protections that heterosexual couples readily receive? Because this is the way it is, same sex couples are suffering a violation of their human rights when everyone else is allowed to marry the person they love.

Works Cited

Riggle, Ellen, Rostosky, Sharon, & Horne, Sharon. “Psychological Distress, Well-Being, and Legal Recognition I Same-Sex Couple Relationships.” Journal of Family Psychology, 82 -86,

            2010.

Brazile, Donna. “Two Different Marriage Bans, Both Wrong.” CNN. Retrieved from 2013:

http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/12/opinion/brazile-loving-decision/index.html?iref=allsearch