So here it is, one of the paragraphs from my persuasive essay. May I just mention before it gets torn to bits that it is 1) not finished (the paragraph that is) and 2) the language needs to be upgraded quite a bit.
That’s all. Have at it!
One of the biggest barriers of same-sex marriage is the federal Defence of Marriage Act or DOMA. DOMA was signed by President Bill Clinton in 1996. It is a two-part piece of legislation that 1) defines marriage on a federal scale as a union between one man and one woman and 2) gives every state the right to decide individually if they recognize gay marriages that were performed in other states. There are several issues with the Defence of Marriage Act. While it does not restrict individual state’s ability to pass legislation concerning same-sex marriage, whether in favor of or against, it prohibits dedicated, same-sex couples who have been legally married, from getting the fiscal benefits that are tied to opposite-sex marriages due to the face that these marriages are not recognized by the federal government. “Under DOMA, thousands of same- sex couples legally married in some U.S. states since May 17, 2004, are in- eligible for tax breaks, Social Security benefits or employer-provided health insurance for spouses.” (CQ researcher pdf). A second issue that DOMA presents is that it violates the full faith and credit clause. The aforementioned clause is section one article four of the United States Constitution and states, “Full faith and credit shall be given in each state to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state. And the Congress may by general laws prescribe the manner in which such acts, records, and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof” (Law Cornel). Basically, every state must recognize the laws of other states. The second half of DOMA specifically states that despite the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the Constitution, states have the right to turn their heads when it comes to gay-marriage and decide if they will recognize or not gay marriages that were performed in other states.