Maria A. Espiritu Rosario, Ashley Vega Muñoz
Interamerican University of Puerto Rico School of Law
Law & Religion- Law101
Prof. Héctor Rubén Sánchez
March 8, 2021
Outline: Law, Religion, and Same Sex Marriages in the US
I. Background information
a. Definition of same sex marriages: Unions between individuals who are of the same gender.
b. Countries that preceded the US in legalizing same sex marriages.
c. Thesis statement: The acceptance of same sex marriages in the US is the new normal (Battiston, 2014).
II. Same Sex marriages and religion
a. Religious establishments which oppose same-sex marriages, such as the Roman Catholic Church (Clarke, 2019).
b. The liberal Christians who embrace gay marriages (Clarke, 2019; Murphy, 2005).
III. Same sex marriages and the law
a. The significance of the Goodridge v. Department of Public Health decision by the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts (Clarke, 2019; Reid, 2008).
b. The significance of the 2015 US Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges (Clarke, 2019)
IV. The future of same sex marriages
a. The minor challenges which same-gender couples are facing to be ironed out as the legal framework continues to evolve (Humphreys, 2006).
b. The acceptance will increase in the future
V. Conclusion
a. Re-stating the thesis statement.
b. A recap of the main points
Battiston, A. (2014). The legal history of same-sex marriage in Canada. Canadian Law Library Review, 39(1), 8-12.
Clarke, J. A. (2019). They, them, and theirs. Harvard Law Review, 132(3), 894-991.
Humphreys, J. (2006). The civil partnership act 2004, same-sex marriage and the church of England. Ecclesiastical Law Journal, 8(38), 289-306.
Murphy, R. (2005). Same-sex marriage and the same old constitution. Constitutional Forum, 14(3), 21-32.
Reid, C. J. (2008). Marriage: Its relationship to religion, law, and the state. Jurist, 68(1), 252-297.