Pennsylvania’s anti-LGBT marriage laws challenged

By Joseph Rettino
April 24, 2014

A lawsuit is in place that is challenging Pennsylvania’s Defense of Marriage Act. The suit, if won by the plaintiffs, would make lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered marriages legal in the state.

With a scheduled date of Monday, June 9, for a Harrisburg, Pa., courtroom, the suit entitled Whitewood v. Wolf encompasses 10 gay couples, two minor children of the said couples and a widow who lost her partner of 29 years in May 2013.

The lawsuit challenges the state’s ban on LGBT marriage and the lack of recognition of out-of-state same-sex marriages. The plaintiffs claim that these bans fall in contention with the couples right to marry and the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause.

“We only want what every married couple wants—to express our love and commitment in front of friends and family, and the security and protections that only marriage provides,” Deb Whitewood, according to an American Civil Liberties Union press release, said. “Our life is built around our relationship and the family we have.”

Whitewood v. Wolf has gained purpose following the landmark case, United States v. Windsor, which ruled that the ban on federal benefits for gay couples endorsed by DOMA was unconstitutional at a federal level.

The outcome of this case will affect the future of students here on Cabrini’s campus, both gay and straight—many of whom who are adamant about the importance of this case ruling in favor of Whitewood.

“If it (Whitewood v. Wolf) went well it would put me in better spirits because it means society isn’t being blissfully ignorant about simple rights,” John Eddings, junior psychology major, said. “It’s not a privilege to marry—it’s a right given which comes with being human.”

According to the Pew Research Center, the heightened acceptance of the LGBT community and the shifted support of same-sex marriage is attributed to the large influx of young adults coming from the millennial generation—who are more open to gay rights than any previous generation.

With this being said, in 2003 17 percent of people born between 1928 and 1945 favored same sex marriage in comparison to presently, where 38 percent of that age range are in favor; a 21 percent increase in 10 years.

All 12 of the states that encompass the northern section of our country, the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions, all hold equal marriage rights besides for Pennsylvania.

If Whitewood’s day in court falls in their favor and Pennsylvania joins its 11 neighboring states, 50 percent of the United State’s population would have equal marriage rights for people of all sexual orientations.

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Joseph Rettino

Junior-Communications Major. Living the dream.

@joeyrettino - Instagram & Twitter

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