Gay Marriage In Three Countries: United States, Brazil and Singapore (Essay Sample)

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Gay Marriage in three Countries: USA, Brazil, and Singapore
Since social change started spreading from the more liberal Western countries, the issue of gay marriage has been in the spotlight. Homosexual couples are in the frontline demanding the right to marry in an open and legal manner as their heterosexual counterparts. However, the rigidness in sexuality and the taboo nature of homosexuality always played against these gay couples as the rest of society always succeeds in suppressing them. Interestingly, in some parts of the world, the tide has shifted in favor of the gay community. Some countries have finally yielded to the constant pressures from the gay community to recognize their rights to marry openly and in a legal manner. However, “many other parts of the world still refuse to recognize the rights of the gay community, leave alone their rights to marry” (Snyder 39). The resulting contention will be the playing field of this paper as we use the examples of three countries, the US, Brazil, and Singapore, to investigate the current state of affairs concerning gay marriage. In addition, we will establish how much civic engagement has achieved in terms of their quest for equality and justice in a compare and contrast exercise.
GAY RIGHTS MARGINALIZATION IN THE US, BRAZIL, AND SINGAPORE
The global views on some of the most fundamental aspects of society have changed little in the last few decades to reflect the divergent perspectives shared by different parts of the world. Sexuality is at the very core of human society, the basic norm being carnal knowledge is shared between people of opposite sex. However, the recent emergence of homosexual couples has led to the sudden demand for a recognition of their rights to engage in their life freely and even marry under legal circumstances (Mello 31). Fundamentalist within the society and government continue to frustrate these demands that the gay community refers to as rights comparable to those of free association and religious affiliation. Interestingly, more and more parts of the world continue to yield to pressure from the gay community especially on the issue of gay marriage, as other parts remain adamant.
The Unites States is a liberal society that allows one of the highest degrees of free speech and rights to engage in an activity considered rightfully endowed to humans. Not surprisingly, this country is home to one of the oldest struggles by the gay community for their rights to marry legally. Since the mid to late 70’s the gay community in the US has fought for gay rights, among which is that of marriage. The fruits of this long strife exist in the current state of affairs of the country in terms of gay rights, especially those pertaining to marriage. Including the District of Columbia, more than 30 states in the US allow gay marriage. Statistically speaking, more than two-thirds of the US had made provisions for the acceptance of gay marriages based on the number of states that have allowed same-sex marriage. However, a few states continue to outlaw same-sex unions as the rest of the nation embraces the gay community. The states of “Texas, Kentucky, Michigan, and Nebraska continue the ban on gay marriage” (Bronski 121).
Comparatively, Brazil offers the gay community a considerable degree of freedom to exchange their vows legally thanks to a Federal Court ruling on May 2013 (De 91). However, some notaries continued to deny the marriage certificate to gay couples but the Federal Court decision forced them to comply. On the other hand, Singapore continues to refuse to acknowledge the rights of the gay community and denies them the rights to marry. The nation reaffirmed its stand on same-sex unions in October 2014 when the Singapore Supreme Court upheld the country’s ban on same-sex unions.
Other than the right to marry, the gay community has many other demands that it regularly makes in line with the struggle for equality and justice. Heterosexual couples enjoy numerous benefits in the United States, Brazil, and Singapore. These include tax exemptions where applicable or existent, medical insurance, pension and so on. Gay couples in the United States enjoy the primary benefits entitled to heterosexual couples, but some jurisdictions imposed restrictive policies for same-sex couples (Cahill 23). The issues related to filing tax returns have been a contentious issue in some states though cognizant of the same sex union, introduce unnecessary complications in this process due to the type of marriage involved. The Brazilian circumstances regarding benefits for gay couples are somewhat more relaxed as the gay community enjoys their newfound freedom in the country. However, some lobby groups demand that gay couples prove their union by opening a joint bank account and sharing an address, which are both restrictive requirements. Singapore makes “no provisions in terms of benefits for same-sex couples because it does not recognize marriage between same-sex couples” (Lian and Tong 302).
A member of the country has the right to enlist in the armed forces as a service members provided they are qualified and have reached suffrage. There have been many instances in the world where the gay community has suffered castigation because of this issue. The United States armed forces accepted the enrollment of gay service members after 2011 when the policy of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ ended. Gay couples were now eligible to serve in the US armed forces, but the case changes in states that still upheld a ban on same-sex marriage. These states turned back these couples and asked them to travel to states that recognize same-sex unions. Brazil “allows same-sex couples to enlist in the armed forces as well as other disciplined forces in the country” (Pecheny and Corrales 84). However, sexual acts are illegal, which poses a threat to gay couples due to the effects, and strain on the relationship. The law requires all Singaporeans to serve in any of the three disciplined forces for a period of not less than 20 months. Although homosexual members can enlist, they get different treatment because homosexuality is a condition according to the Singaporean Armed Forces. Surprisingly, they listed it down in the ‘directory of diseases’ (Lai 21).
CIVIC ENGAGEMENT FOR THE RIGHTS OF GAY MARRIAGE IN THE THREE COUNTRIES
Individuals’ efforts can be discussed from civic engagement entailing the involvement of an individual in the affairs of a community for the sake of conflict resolution, arbitration, or settlement of disputes. The issue of gay marriage has resulted in numerous cases of conflict and created many instances that could use mediation as homosexuals continue demanding what they believe to be rightfully theirs. In this issue, we note that individuals, organizations and the liberal world at large seem to be trying to arbitrate to enable them marry legally.
There are many individuals, both heterosexual and homosexual, who have been trying to employ civic engagement techniques to change the mindsets of the world and governments where the aggrieved gay couples reside. One good example is in United States, where though the gay community enjoys many rights and freedoms gay marriage still suffers under the ban in some states, the Mayor of Boston took the initiative. On March 2015, Mayor Martin J. Walsh signed the freedom to marry brief in support of the same-sex marriage campaign in the country (Manaster 106). The freedom to marry brief is an initiative by American mayors supporting the same-sex marriage effort. To date, it has the signatures of more than 220 mayors from over 40 American cities. The Brazilian presidential candidate Marina Silva claimed once to hold conservative views on the civil union of gay couples during the run-off with the current president Dilma Rousseff. With such kind of support, the few instances of marginalization in this almost perfect example of gay rights recognition and social equality boosted the rights of the gay community. Singapore continues with the ban on homosexuality and denies recognition to gay marriages and related rights. However, some individuals relentlessly continue to agitate for the rights of the gay community, especially those pertaining to marriage. A few prolific bloggers have come out strongly against the government for enforcing laws that they term as archaic that marginalize an entire group of Singaporeans.
Organizational efforts in the context of gay rights in the United States are a touchy issue that always creates friction between the states that continue to enforce the ban on same-sex marriage. However, there is a vast collection of groups, which have come to the aid of the gay community. One of the most vocal and prolific American groups which continues to lend itself to the fight for gay rights is the Freedom to Marry group. This lobby group consists of city mayors who have come together in solidarity and support of the same-sex marriage issue. They sign a brief that signifies their individual, as well as their city’s support for the enactment of blanket policies and laws legalizing gay marriage. So far, more than 260 mayors have signed as over 40 cities demonstrate their support. Brazil’s case in terms of group efforts at civic engagement is grimmer than the rest. There is widespread persecution of the gay community often resulting in murder. The “Grupo Gay de Bahia (GGB) has been fighting for the gay community since the early 2000’s” (Haynes 57). In addition to the fight against homophobia, the GGB is actively involved in trying to reduce instance where marriage certificates disappeared due sexuality. Since the Federal Court in Brazil states that every notary in the country should issue a marriage certificate regardless of sexua...