Assignment 5

1. This article states that 45% of Americans polled supported gay marriage. This is a major increase from 1996 when just 25% of Americans polled supported gay marriage. Due to this increase it is important news because more and more Americans are accepting same sex marriages.

2. Proposition 8 occurred in 2008 and is a California ballot that was hoped to ban same sex marriages in that state. However in 2011, federal law ruled that this Proposition violated the rights on same sex couples and later in 2012 federal law also said that it violated the Constitution.

3. The definition of marriage the U.S, according to the Defense of Marriage Act is a "legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife".

4. In Maine, on May 6, 2009 the state legalized gay marriages however the voters overturned the law. The state has followed the Defense of Marriage Act since 1997 but voters will get a chance to vote on legalizing gay marriages again on the ballot this November. However in Iowa, the Supreme Court ruled that the state's gay marriage ban violated constitutional rights same sex couples. As of April 24, 2009 same sex couples were able to marry in Iowa.

5. The legalization of same sex marriage in NY is expected to influence the wedding industry in two major ways. First of all same sex weddings will play a role in tourism industry, hundreds of millions of dollars are expected to be added to this industry. There will also be an increase in the number of wedding dresses sold, venues, the amount of flowers needed, and even invitations. Wedding planning and organizing events for same sex wedding will become and important part of the wedding industry.

According to Gary Gates, the UCLA demographer, the marriage rates of straight couples differ from the marriage rate of same sex couples because the marriage rate for straight couples is 90% while it is 65% for same sex couples

Lesbians are twice as likely to get married than gay men are to get married.

Some same sex couples are not married because they believe that a marriage license is just a piece of paper and it shouldn't define their relationship. Other don't because same sex marriage isn't legal in ever state and in many circumstance the state the couple lives in may not recognize same sex marriage.