Homosexual Marriage (Press, 19 October 1971)
This is a Generative AI summary of this newspaper article. It may contain errors or omissions. Please note that the language in the summary is reflective of the original article and the societal attitudes of the time in which it was written.
Summary: Homosexual Marriage (Press, 19 October 1971)
On 18 October 1971, the Minnesota Supreme Court announced its decision to deny a marriage licence to two homosexual men, Richard Baker and James McConnell. The Court reaffirmed that marriage is an institution exclusively between a man and a woman, a definition rooted in tradition and religious texts, notably “as old as the Book of Genesis.” Both men, aged 29, argued that the state law did not explicitly prohibit same-sex marriage. Notably, Richard Baker served as the president of the student association at the University of Minnesota, while James McConnell worked as a librarian. The Court's ruling clarified that the prohibition of same-sex marriage did not conflict with any provisions of the United States Constitution, dismissing the men's claims related to the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Court maintained that the categorisation of individuals eligible for marriage did not constitute irrational or discriminatory action against the plaintiffs.
Important Information
The text on this page is created, in the most part, using Generative AI and so may contain errors or omissions. It is supplied to you without guarantee or warranty of correctness. If you find an error or would like to make a content suggestion please get in contact
The text on this page is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 New Zealand