Nicole Gruszka

Introduction to Diplomacy
Peng Yu
October 19, 2015
At the time of the development of international human rights,
the rights of LGBTQIA (lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, intersex, asexual)
persons were not explicitly expressed or acknowledged. However, as
the definition of international human rights has evolved, the rights of
these individuals have become included, in the form of protection
from discrimination, legal recognition, the right to found a family, and
the right to marry freely. The United States has supported and
implemented measures to protect these rights, both within its borders
and abroad.
In the past, the policies of the United States like those of most
countries reflected the cultural norms of their time, and these norms
included discrimination against sexual minorities. The concept of
federalism, or that individual states have legislative powers of less
significance than those of the federal government, allowed the states
to pass and enforce anti-sodomy legislation until June 26th, 2003,
when the Supreme Court ruled that anti-sodomy legislation was a
violation of the 14th amendment of the United States Constitution
which guarantees equal protection in the eyes of the law in the
landmark case Lawrence v. Texas. Similarly, the 14th amendments
equal protection clause was later used to justify the legalization of

Nicole Gruszka
Introduction to Diplomacy
Peng Yu
October 19, 2015
same-sex marriages on a federal level on June 26th, 2015, in the case
Obergefell v. Hodges, effectively striking down individual states bans
on same-sex marriages and again utilizing the principle of federalism
to progress the rights of the people.
While the United States has received criticism from other
countries for enacting these policies much later than other developed
nations, this delay stems from the aforementioned concept of
federalism, and the diversity of opinion throughout the states. The
high percentage of Americans who identify as Christian (70.6%, Pew
2014), with a particularly dense concentration of Christians in the
southern portion of the country, also contributed to this delay, as
mainstream Christian religious thought condemns same-sex sexual
activities, and, by extension, same-sex marriages; therefore, the
legalization of marriage equality may have been viewed as infringing
on the 1st Amendment right to freedom to practice religion possessed
by these citizens. Additionally, the United States has always been
driven by the desires of its citizens, and, according to Gallup, the
majority of Americans did not support the recognition and legal equity
of same-sex marriages until May of 2012, and this majority did not
even enjoy a double-digit lead until May of 2015. To implement

Nicole Gruszka
Introduction to Diplomacy
Peng Yu
October 19, 2015
legislation recognizing same-sex marriages before cohesion within
American opinion existed would be in direct opposition to the central
principle of democracy on which the United States was built.