Running head: DISCRIMINATION AGAINST SAME-SEX MARRIAGE

Discrimination Against Same-Sex Marriage

SW 3710
November 26th 2013
Amanda Cummings
FJ4309

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Abstract
This paper is an international analysis of the issue of
discrimination against same-sex marriage over time in the Netherlands
and Iran compared to the United States. The topics that will be
covered will include describing the issue and the population affected,
how the issue has evolved over time, what services and policies are in
place to alleviate the issue and how policies which impact the issue
have changed over time, describe the people who receive the services
available, how social influences impact policy solutions, describe the
global differences and similarities of these two countries compared to
the Untied States and how treatment of the issue relates to social work
values.

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Discrimination Against Same-Sex Marriage

We live in a complex and ever changing world in which there are
many social issues. One such social issue is discrimination against
same-sex marriage. It is a hotly debated topic due to the fact that the
institution of marriage involves religion, law and society. This paper is
an international analysis of the issue of discrimination against samesex marriage over time in the Netherlands and Iran as compared to the
United States. The topics that will be covered will include describing
the issue and the population affected, how the issue has evolved over
time, what services and policies are in place to alleviate the issue and
how the issue has changed over time, describe the people who receive
the services available, how social influences impact policy solutions,
describe the global differences and similarities of these two countries
compared to the Untied States and how treatment of the issue relates
to social work values.
Same-sex marriage, as a practical matter, can take on various
forms, such as co-habitation, civil union and marriage. However, how
the government and the law recognize same-sex marriage has real life
consequences all over the world. Marriage touches all aspects of life,
at birth, to taxes, for insurance purposes and even at death.
Discrimination against same-sex marriage is a social issue because it

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affects the rights and opportunities of couples that wish to marry the
same sex.

In the United States the Federal government passed the Defense

of Marriage Act (DOMA), a law designed to define and protect the
institution of marriage. The law, among other things, specifically
defined marriage as being between one man and one woman. As a
result, DOMA harms married same-sex couples by withholding more
than one thousand federal responsibilities and protections according to
all other married couplesincluding Social Security survivor benefits,
tax fairness, access to health coverage, and recognition of family ties
for immigration purposes. DOMA divides married Americans into two
classes, those with marriages the federal government likes, and those
married to someone of whom the federal government disapproves. And
DOMA discriminates against states, telling them that even if they end
marriage discrimination, the couples they legally married will be
carved into two groups a mandatory "gay exception" to the normal
respect for marriage. (Wlofson E. 2011). The 2010 US census
reported that there were 646,464 same-sex couple households. So, of
that number, only 131,729 couples claim to be married leaving
514,735 same-sex households in which partners don't call themselves
married. If the number of same-sex marriages (131,729) or even the
number of couples who report to be part of a same-sex household

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(646,464) is compared to the total US population of 308,745,538
reported in the same period, one can see that the demographics of
same-sex couples is not significant.

Iran is one country where same sex marriage is not tolerated and
is treated more severely. Under the penal code of the Islamic
Republic of Iran adopted after the 1979 revolution, death is a potential
punishment for homosexuality. Kissing another man or woman in public
may result in 60 lashes. International human rights groups have
collected evidence that Iran has executed men on homosexuality
charges, and documented cases of arrests, imprisonment, and physical
abuse of LGBT persons based on their sexual orientation or association
with other members of LGBT community. An updating of Iran's penal
code in May 2013 criminalized homosexual identity, rather than
specific acts, making it punishable by 31 to 74 lashes. Homosexuality
was described by the secretary general of Iran's high council for
human rights as "an illness and malady," and by former President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as something that "we don't have in our
country." A Tehran journalist who interviewed several Iranian
homosexuals to show that that they do indeed exist received 60 lashes
and a four-year jail term. (Kordunsky, 2013). Considering theses laws
and what a former President had said it is made known that same-sex
marriage would not be tolerated in this country. Startling new research

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from sociologist Parvaneh Abdul Maleki found that 24% of Iranian
women and 16% of Iranian men have had at least one homosexual
experience. The report also revealed that just over 4% have had gay
or lesbian relationships. Since Irans Islamic revolution in 1979, human
rights groups claim that between 3,000 and 4,000 people have been
executed under Sharia law for the crime of homosexuality. In
September the President of Iran admitted in an interview that there
may be a few gay people in his country, but attacked homosexuality
as destructive to society. (PinkNews.co.uk, 2009).

The Netherlands has become more accepting of same-sex

marriage and they were the first country that officially allowed samesex couples to marry. On April 1, 2001 the Netherlands became the
first country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage, with the same
rights as heterosexuals. This also included the right to adopt for
couples that are the same sex. There is a total number of almost 48 thousand
same-sex couples living in the Netherlands on January 1st 2002. The number of male
couples has increased, from about 20 thousand couples in 1995 to 26 thousand couples in
2002. The increase in female couples was less striking. This group developed with 3
thousand to almost 22 thousand. Five percent of the male and female couples are
married: about 1.3 thousand male and 1.1 thousand female couples. Ten percent of the
couples have a registered partnership: 2.5 thousand male and 2.3 thousand female
couples. In total 15 percent of the male and female same-sex couples has registered their

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relationship through marriage or partnership. In about 9 percent of the households of
same-sex couples there is at least one child.

Discrimination towards same-sex marriage is quickly changing throughout the

world. There have been instances of same-sex marriage throughout the
medieval and modern eras but only in the past 20-30 years has the
topic of same-sex marriage and how same-sex couples are
discriminated against been widely debated. The historical implications
of how same-sex marriage couples are discriminated against versus
how they are discriminated against today are different. In the past
discrimination was mainly relational, how people treated same-sex
partners. In addition to these historical concerns, people today
considering same-sex marriage must consider issues such as death
benefits, taxation and health insurance.

The policy that directly relates to discrimination against samesex marriage in the United States is the Defense of Marriage Act
(DOMA). It has been debated by policy makers and in court as to
whether it should be terminated or amended. States have been
passing their own laws related to same-sex marriage, either for or
against it. For instance, the state of CA recently passed proposition 8,
which defines marriage as being between one man and one woman.
The Supreme Court recently heard cases surrounding the legality of the

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DOMA and proposition 8. They ruled that a portion of the DOMA, which
denies federal benefits to same-sex couples, is unconstitutional. Also,
in their opinion concerning proposition 8, the Supreme Court dismissed
the case that asked the court to overturn a lower court decision
striking down proposition 8. In doing so, the decision allows for samesex marriages to resume in CA and is viewed as a win by same-sex
marriage advocates. In addition to what is happening in the US, the
Netherlands have enacted same-sex marriage laws in which same-sex
couples are treated in the same manner as heterosexual couples. The
Netherlands ended the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage in
2001, when their Parliament voted 107-33 to eliminate discrimination
from their marriage laws. The law requires that at least one member of
the couple be a Dutch national or live in the Netherlands, and it took
effect on April 1, 2001. Policy making related to same-sex marriage
has progressed at a rapid pace in recent years when compared to the
progress made historically.

Services or how same-sex married couples are to be treated is

just beginning. Given that only a handful of states within the United
States have same-sex marriage laws in place, government and
business is learning how to respond to this situation. For example,
businesses that offer health insurance benefits must accommodate the
same sex spouse as an eligible participant. Many businesses operate

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or have offices in a number of states. The United States has made
tremendous progress to implement anti-discrimination policies and
legislation making it illegal to discriminate against someone on the
grounds of their gender, race, religious beliefs or sexuality. Even with
this, discrimination towards same-sex marriage is still tolerated. Those
affected by this problem are quickly gaining a voice with the policy
makers and will soon have laws in place making it illegal to
discriminate towards same-sex marriage. The Netherlands does not
seem to have much of a problem with this since their Parliament voted
to eliminate discrimination from their marriage laws. In comparison,
this is a huge issue for Iran due to the fact that they do not even
recognize homosexuals in the country period.

The day may be coming for same-sex couples but there are a
number of social stigmas and prejudices that affect same-sex marriage
couples and how law and policy surrounding the issue is changing.
Given the Christian heritage of the United States and the fact Christian
beliefs are such that homosexuality and marriage of same sex partners
is prohibited, discrimination is everywhere. These pressures impact
the definition of same-sex marriage in that it has not been openly
debated as a relevant social issue until just recently. The issue only
began to be relevant after the womens right movement in which
woman began to be treated equally across a variety of issues. This has

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caused other minority groups to make progress towards acceptance
and willingness of people to accept others that are different from them.
But these prejudices go away slowly and they influence the rate at
which policy change is made and to what extent. The social stigma
and prejudices strongly affect the policy solutions in Iran. The lifestyles
of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people in Iran are
comprehensively and systematically denied by the Islamic regime,
which exposes them to horrific punishment, bullying and risk of
suicide. The first detailed report on Irans homosexual community has
found that its members live under social and state repression, with
some being persecuted, forced into exile or even sentenced to death.
(Dehghan, 2013). "They asked [at Columbia University in 2007] why
you crack down on homosexuals in Iran?" Ahmadinejad said in Yazd
last Thursday. "I answered we don't have so many homosexuals in Iran
because we believe this act is against the human spirit and humanity."
(Defenddemocracy.org, 2013). It may take many years for Iran to
accept the idea of homosexuality, let alone alleviate discrimination
against same-sex marriage.

There are some global differences and similarities of the

Netherlands and Iran compared to the Untied States. The Netherlands
and Iran are complete opposite with respect to discrimination of samesex marriage whereas the United States is right in the middle of the

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two. The Netherlands has made same-sex marriage legal so that
couples of the same sex have the same rights as heterosexuals. This
allows for more recorded marriages than the United States and the
population of same-sex couples is also higher than that in the United
States and Iran. Iran is different than both the United States and the
Netherlands due to the fact that they completely discriminate against
same-sex marriage due to the fact it is not allowed at all and they go
to extremes when punishing homosexuals. The United States is slowly
coming around to the idea of same-sex marriage and some states have
made it legal and maybe one day it will be legal for the whole country
just like in the Netherlands. But for Iran, social stigma and
discrimination will likely prevent change in the near future.

The treatment of the issue of discrimination against same-sex

marriage can relate to Social Work values in a few areas. One area it
relates to, without a doubt, is what the NASW Code of Ethics says
about discrimination. Social workers should not practice, condone,
facilitate, or collaborate with any form of discrimination on the basis of
race, ethnicity, national origin, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender
identity or expression, age, marital status, political belief, religion,
immigration status, or mental or physical disability. (socialworkers.org.
2013). Another area that this issue relates to Social Work values is
what the NASW Code of Ethics has to say about social diversity.

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Social workers should obtain education about and seek to understand
the nature of social diversity and oppression with respect to race,
ethnicity, national origin, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity
or expression, age, marital status, political belief, religion, immigration
status, and mental or physical disability. (socialworkers.org. 2013).
Social Work is about alleviating the conditions of those in need of help;
social workers value people without making judgments as to how a
person chooses to live their life.

In conclusion, discrimination against same-sex marriage is not

quickly going to go away and it is a topic that is multi-faceted, as it
involves religion, law and society. Therefore, this is the social welfare
issue I have chosen to analyze, by doing an international analysis of
the issue of discrimination against same-sex marriage over time in the
Netherlands and Iran compared to the United States. I have described
the issue and the population affected, how the issue has evolved over
time, what services and policies are in place to alleviate the issue and
how the issue has changed over time, described the people who
receive the services available, how social influences impact policy
solutions, described the global differences and similarities of these two
countries compared to the United States and how treatment of the
issue relates to social work values.

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References

Wlofson E. (2011). Without Nationwide Gay Marriage, U.S. Government

Discriminates. US News and World Report. Retrieved from
http://www.usnews.com/debate-club/should-gay-marriage-belegal-nationwide/without-nationwide-gay-marriage-usgovernment-discriminate.
Kordunsky, A. 2013. Russia Not Only Country With Anti-Gay Laws Many
other countries, from Iran to Cameroon, have harsh anti-gay laws.
National

Geographic.

PinkNews.co.uk. 2009. New study claims 16% of Iranian men have had
gay

relationships. [online] Available at:

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http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2009/01/22/new-

study-claims-16-

of-iranian- men-have-had-gay-relationships/.

Dehghan, S. 2013. Iran's persecution of gay community revealed. The

Gaurdian,
Available at:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/may/17/iranpersecution-gay-community-revealed.
Defenddemocracy.org. 2013. Ahmadinejad Says Homosexuality Goes
Against Human Spirit | Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
[online] Available at: http://www.defenddemocracy.org/mediahit/ahmadinejad-says-homosexuality-goes-against-human-spirit/
Socialworkers.org. (2013). Code of Ethics (English and Spanish).
[online] Available

at:

http://www.socialworkers.org/pubs/code/code.asp [Accessed: 9
Oct

2013].

Steenhof, L. and Harmsen, C. 2013. Same-sex couples in the

Netherlands. [online] Available at:
http://www.cbs.nl/NR/rdonlyres/74975167-2503-43A0-882166F88DA2B6B2/0/samesexcouples.pdf
Abby D. Phillip, Ariane De Vogue. (6/26/2013). Supreme Court Bolsters
Gay Marriage Advocates in DOMA, Prop 8 Rulings. Retrieved from

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http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/supreme-court-rules-gaymarriage-cases/story?id=19492896
Sharon Jayson. (9/27/2011). Same-sex marriages: first Census count
shows 131,729.
Retrieved from
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/health/wellness/story/2011
-09-27/Same-sex-marriages-first-Census-count-shows131729/50571788/1