Recently the Supreme Court ruled that the ban on same sex marriage by states was unconstitutional because of the 14th Amendment. The United States Constitution states the 14th amendment as: “No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United State; 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,” (“14th Amendment”). The 14th Amendment is also known as the equal protection clause because it provides equal rights for all people. Plural marriage is defined by the dictionary as polygamy, which is the practice or condition of having more than one spouse, …show more content…
Congress passes and President Bill Clinton signs the Defense of Marriage Act. “… marriage was defined as a legal relationship between a man and a woman,” (Newton, 157). The act was broken down into two section title one chapter one section seven which states the definition of marriage and spouse as “in determining the meaning of any Act of Congress, or of any ruling, regulation, or interpretation of the various administrative bureaus and agencies of the United states, the word marriage means only legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife, and the word spouse refers only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife,” (“1 U.S. Code Section 7- Definition of “marriage” and “spouse””). The other section of the act which is title 28 part five chapter 115 says, “No state, territory, or possession of the united States, or Indian tribe, shall be required to give effect to any public act, record, of judicial proceeding of any other State, territory, possession, or tribe respecting a relationship between persons of the same sex that is treated as a marriage under the laws of such other State, territory, possession, or tribe, or a right or claim arising from such relationship,” (28 U.S. Code Section 1738C – Certain Acts, Records, and Proceedings and the Effect