Marriage Law Project

Last updated

The Marriage Law Project (MLP) is a public interest legal aid organization founded in 1996. It aims "to reaffirm marriage as the union of one man and one woman." Its offices are located in the Columbus School of Law at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. Its founder, David Orgon Coolidge, was Senior Fellow at the Columbus School of Law Ethics and Public Policy Center and a Research Fellow in the Columbus School of Law Interdisciplinary Program in Law and Religion. William C. Duncan is Assistant Director of the Marriage Law Project. [1]

Contents

The Marriage Law Project monitors the progress of state and federal legislation regarding marriage and same-sex unions. It provides information regarding headline news, current legislative progress, various arguments against same-sex marriage, case and statute law, news reports, and links to other resources. The Marriage Law Project is a frequent contributor as a spokesperson in the cultural homosexuality debates, especially from a Roman Catholic point of view. MLP participated in filing the injunction against San Francisco when that city's clerk decided to issue same-sex marriage licenses. [2]

Symposia

MLP and the Marriage and Family Law Project at Brigham Young University Law School co-hosted a symposium in September 2006 entitled "'What's the Harm?'—How Legalizing Same-Sex Marriage Will Harm Society, Families, Adults, Children and Marriage". [3]

Another joint symposium by these schools was held February 1–3, 2001, and was entitled "The ALI Family Dissolution Principles: Blueprint to Strengthen or to Deconstruct Families?" [4]

Published works

The Marriage Law Project has continued to submit Amici Curiae briefs in court cases and appeals regarding equal marriage all over the United States. Articles have been published in several law journals.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Civil Liberties Union</span> Legal advocacy organization in the United States

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is an American nonprofit human rights organization founded in 1920. The organization strives "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." The ACLU works through litigation and lobbying and has more than 1,800,000 members as of July 2018, with an annual budget over $300 million. ACLU affiliates are active in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The ACLU provides legal assistance in cases where it considers civil liberties at risk. Legal support from the ACLU can take the form of direct legal representation or preparation of amicus curiae briefs expressing legal arguments when another law firm is already providing representation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT movements</span> Social movements

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) movements are social movements that advocate for LGBT people in society. Although there is not a primary or an overarching central organization that represents all LGBT people and their interests, numerous LGBT rights organizations are active worldwide. The first organization to promote LGBT rights was the Scientific-Humanitarian Committee, founded in 1897 in Berlin.

A domestic partnership is an intimate relationship between people, usually couples, who live together and share a common domestic life but who are not married. People in domestic partnerships receive legal benefits that guarantee right of survivorship, hospital visitation, and other rights.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Same-sex marriage in Canada</span>

Same-sex marriage was progressively introduced in several provinces and territories of Canada by court decisions beginning in 2003 before being legally recognized nationwide with the enactment of the Civil Marriage Act on July 20, 2005. On June 10, 2003, the Court of Appeal for Ontario issued a decision immediately legalizing same-sex marriage in Ontario, thereby becoming the first province where it was legal. The introduction of a federal gender-neutral marriage definition made Canada the fourth country in the world, and the first country outside Europe, to legally recognize same-sex marriage throughout its borders. Before the federal recognition of same-sex marriage, court decisions had already introduced it in eight out of ten provinces and one of three territories, whose residents collectively made up about 90 per cent of Canada's population. More than 3,000 same-sex couples had already married in those areas before the Civil Marriage Act was passed. In 2023, polling by Pew Research suggested that more than three-quarters of Canadian residents supported the legal recognition of same-sex marriage. Most legal benefits commonly associated with marriage had been extended to cohabiting same-sex couples since 1999.

Same-sex marriage has been legal in the District of Columbia since March 3, 2010. On December 18, 2009, Mayor Adrian Fenty signed a bill passed by the D.C. Council on December 15 legalizing same-sex marriage. Following the signing, the measure entered a mandatory congressional review of 30 work days. Marriage licenses became available on March 3, and marriages began on March 9, 2010. The District of Columbia was the first jurisdiction in the United States below the Mason–Dixon line to allow same-sex couples to marry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freedom of religion in Canada</span> Overview of religious freedom in Canada

Freedom of religion in Canada is a constitutionally protected right, allowing believers the freedom to assemble and worship without limitation or interference.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Legal status of same-sex marriage</span> Overview of the legal status of same-sex marriage

The legal status of same-sex marriage has changed in recent years in numerous jurisdictions around the world. The current trends and consensus of political authorities and religions throughout the world are summarized in this article.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catholic Charities USA</span> Network of charities with headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia

Catholic Charities USA is the national voluntary membership organization for Catholic Charities agencies throughout the United States and its territories. Catholic Charities USA is a member of Caritas Internationalis, an international federation of Catholic social service organizations. Catholic Charities USA is the national office of 167 local Catholic Charities agencies nationwide.

Michael Jay Broyde is an American legal scholar. He is a professor of law and the academic director of the Law and Religion Program at Emory University. He is also a senior fellow in the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at the university. His primary areas of interest are law and religion, Jewish law and Jewish ethics, and comparative religious law. Broyde has published 200 articles on various aspects of law and religion and Jewish law, and a number of articles in the area of federal courts.

The Constitution provides for the freedom to practice the rights of one's religion and faith in accordance with the customs that are observed in the kingdom, unless they violate public order or morality. The state religion is Islam. The Government prohibits conversion from Islam and proselytization of Muslims.

Many views are held or have been expressed by religious organisation in relation to same-sex marriage. Arguments both in favor of and in opposition to same-sex marriage are often made on religious grounds and/or formulated in terms of religious doctrine. Although many of the world's religions are opposed to same-sex marriage, the number of religious denominations that are conducting same-sex marriages have been increasing since 2010. Religious views on same-sex marriage are closely related to religious views on homosexuality.

India does not recognise same-sex marriage, civil unions or other forms of partnerships, but provides some limited legal recognition to cohabiting same-sex couples in the form of live-in relationships. Several same-sex couples have married in traditional Hindu ceremonies since the late 1980s; however, these marriages are not registered with the state and couples do not enjoy all the same rights and benefits as married opposite-sex couples. The Supreme Court of India in August 2022 provided social security rights to those in same-sex live-in relationships while also recognising same-sex couples as being part of a "family unit".

David Orgon Collidge was the founder of The Marriage Law Project (MLP) and was an editor, along with Lynn D. Wardle and Alan J. Hawkins, of the book Revitalizing Marriage in the Twenty-First Century: An Agenda for Strengthening Marriage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT rights in Paraguay</span>

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Paraguay face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Both male and female types of same-sex sexual activity are legal in Paraguay, but same-sex couples and households headed by same-sex couples are not eligible for all of the same legal protections available to opposite-sex married couples. Paraguay remains one of the few conservative countries in South America regarding LGBT rights.

Anthony M. Stevens-Arroyo, C.P. is an American scholar of religion and retired Brooklyn College professor emeritus, and laicized Roman Catholic priest of the Passionist Order. He is married to Ana Maria Diaz-Stevens, Professor Emerita of Union Theological Seminary in New York for Sociology and Religion. At Brooklyn College, starting in 1980, he authored and/or edited a dozen books and wrote more than 100 scholarly articles, book chapters and reviews for leading quarterlies in the United States, Latin America and Spain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT rights in Washington (state)</span>

The state of Washington is seen as one of the most progressive states in the U.S. in regard to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights; with jurisprudence having evolved significantly since the late 20th century. Same-sex sexual activity was legalized in 1976. LGBT people are fully protected from discrimination in the areas of employment, housing and public accommodations; the state enacting comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation regarding sexual orientation and gender identity in 2006. Same-sex marriage has been legal since 2012, and same-sex couples are allowed to adopt. Conversion therapy on minors has also been illegal since 2018.

Social conservatism in the United States is a political ideology focused on the preservation of traditional values and beliefs. It focuses on a concern with moral and social values which proponents of the ideology see as degraded in modern society by liberalism. In the United States, one of the largest forces of social conservatism is the Christian right.

South African family law is concerned with those legal rules in South Africa which pertain to familial relationships. It may be defined as "that subdivision of material private law which researches, describes and regulates the origin, contents and dissolution of all legal relationships between: (i) husband and wife ; (ii) parents, guardians and children; and (iii) relatives related through blood and affinity."

"As far as family law is concerned, we in South Africa have it all. We have every kind of family; extended families, nuclear families, one-parent families, same-sex families, and in relation to each one of these there are controversy, difficulties and cases coming before the courts or due to come before the courts. This is the result of ancient history and recent history [...]. Our families are suffused with history, as family law is suffused with history, culture, belief and personality. For researchers it's a paradise, for judges a purgatory."

In the United States, a religious freedom bill is a bill that, according to its proponents, allows those with religious objections to oppose LGBT rights in accordance with traditional religious teachings without being punished by the government for doing so. This typically concerns an employee who objects to abortion, euthanasia, same-sex marriage, civil unions, or transgender identity and wishes to avoid situations where they will be expected to put those objections aside. Proponents commonly refer to such proposals as religious liberty or conscience protection.

References

  1. Narth Institute
  2. Planet Out: "Groups that oppose marriage for gays and lesbians promised a court fight.", accessed April 25, 2011 Archived May 15, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  3. "BYU J. Reuben Clark Law School" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 18, 2006.
  4. http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3736/is_200101/ai_n8938147 [ bare URL ]