The American election is still months away (approximately 14 and half) and the issues that will define the election are still being defined. But possibly one of the most argued issues in America, at the moment is the issue of gay rights and specifically Gay Marriage. On August 9th most of the democratic contenders for president participated in the first ever candidates forum devoted entirely to Gay issues, highlights of which can be seen here along with Jon Stewart's comments;  
Out of the 50 states, only 1 (Massachusetts) allows people of the same sex to marry, whilst 9 other states including California, New Jersey, Vermont, Connecticut & Oregon allow civil unions or domestic partnerships (although Oregon’s law doesn’t come into affect until 1st January 2008).  
Meanwhile (as of May 2007), twenty-six states have passed constitutional amendments explicitly barring the recognition of same-sex marriage, eighteen of which prohibit the legal recognition of any same-sex union. Nineteen additional states have legal statutes that define "marriage" as a union of two persons of the opposite-sex. The territory of Puerto Rico ratified a similar statute in 1998. Worldwide the situation is pretty much the same; only few countries allow same-sex ‘marriages’ whilst many more allow either civil
unions or domestic partnerships.  


Full marriage, for homosexual couples, is only available in The Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, South Africa & Spain. Interestingly the Israeli parliament is considering recognizing gay marriages that are performed in other countries, whilst simultaneously not allowing them to be performed in Israel itself. 

But within America there is a potential legal argument that revolves around the founding fathers and the constitution. In 1776 the founding fathers wrote; 

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable Rights that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” – The preamble to the Declaration of Independence 

Now this statement, that all men are created equal, is not mentioned within the constitution, in fact the first mention of anything of its kind is not until the 14th Amendment;

“No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; Nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws” 

But surely the fact that the founding fathers said this, and were forming a country whose ancestors had started it to escape persecution, would suggest that they felt that everyone is equal, and therefore everyone deserves the same rights. 

However, the Christian right in America don’t feel that way, and it’s because gay rights aren’t mentioned within the constitution. And their basis for not allowing gay marriages to take place in the state is that the bible doesn’t allow it, and as long as the republicans hold onto either control of congress or control of the white house, this will never change. So all of this is happening in America, despite the founding fathers ideal of having a country where the Church was kept separate from the State, and although that is true in some instances, like school prayer, no-one has been able to keep the church out of politics. The republicans rely on the Christian right to be the bass of their party (thanks to Karl Rove) and that is why it is unlikely that a republican presidential candidate will come out (pardon the pun) and support gay marriage in any form or another. 

So if gay marriage is not going to happen, why are states banning any form of recognition for same sex couples? For that I don’t know the answer although more and more states (although this so far is limited to the states round the edges of the country which usually vote democrat) are beginning to allow same sex couple to have either of the alternatives. For instance there are 5 states considering proposals to allow gay couples to have civil unions/domestic partnerships, including New York (which already recognises Gay marriages performed in countries where they are legal), Maryland and Illinois. 

Some places have gone further than that, e.g. Massachusetts and the city of San Francisco , which temporarily allowed gay couples to marry, until it was stopped by the Californian Supreme Court, which also declared all the marriages to be illegal. American opinion is split on the issue, and has been for some time, although the nation’s opinion is changing. Most people would favour a ban on gay marriage whilst allowing couples who have made a long-term commitment to each other to have civil partnerships. 

A 2004 CBS Poll showed that most people favoured no recognition for gay couples, a Pew Poll from 2006 has showed that more people are supporting equal gay rights. 

So with opinion changing perhaps that means that the politicians will change their minds, or perhaps the Christian right will continue to get their way. Personally I think the latter will happen, for now at least, but at some point in the future there will be equal rights and equal opportunities for all in America.