Current Search: Gays -- Legal status, laws, etc -- United States (x)
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Title
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Finding the rainbow connection: moving from toleration to human dignity and acceptance in American life and law.
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Creator
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Lange, Alex C., Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College
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Abstract/Description
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The surge in granting equal rights to gays and lesbians in the United States is remarkable. Yet with this surge comes a conflict : the civil rights of gays and lesbians against the rights of religious individuals, predominantly Christians, refusing to tolerate a behavior they think immoral. My thesis focuses on two hypothetical situations : a county clerk refusing to issue a marriage license to an engaged lesbian couple and an inn owner refusing a night's stay to a gay couple. In both cases,...
Show moreThe surge in granting equal rights to gays and lesbians in the United States is remarkable. Yet with this surge comes a conflict : the civil rights of gays and lesbians against the rights of religious individuals, predominantly Christians, refusing to tolerate a behavior they think immoral. My thesis focuses on two hypothetical situations : a county clerk refusing to issue a marriage license to an engaged lesbian couple and an inn owner refusing a night's stay to a gay couple. In both cases, the clerk and inn owner refuse service for religious reasons. Normatively, I argue that we must move beyond a framework of toleration to a system of equal respect and understanding of our fellow human beings. Legally, I argue that the rights of religious expression and exercise should not trump the civil rights of gays and lesbians in the public sphere.
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Date Issued
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2012
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PURL
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http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3359308
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Subject Headings
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Gay liberation movement, History, Religion and politics, History, Gay rights, Public opinion, Gays, Social conditions, Constitutional law, Religious aspects, Same-sex marriage, Law and legislation, Sex discrimination, Law and legislation, Gays, Legal status, laws, etc
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Format
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Document (PDF)
