隨著人們維護自我權利的意識逐漸抬頭，有關於同性戀人士是否能夠享有合法婚姻的議題備受社會各界討論。在美國，婚姻權作為每位公民享有的基本權利之一，並且婚姻權賦予了每位公民許多的權利和義務。過去的法律上卻用婚姻保護法案將同性戀人士排除在婚姻權之外，不但限制同性戀人士不能享有許多的權利及義務，更無疑的使他們在社會上受到異樣的眼光及歧視。 本論文主要透過美國婚姻保護法被判決違憲一事，來探討自婚姻保護法案實施到廢除此段時間中，美國社會對於同性婚姻是否合法化的態度是否和法律上一樣有所轉變。並深入了解到個人的性向、年齡、宗教信仰、政治意向等是否也影響個人對於同性婚姻的看法不同。並且瞭解同性婚姻逐漸在美國合法化後對美國社會的影響和未來展望。 本論文第一章為緒論，說明本論文的研究動機、研究目的與研究限制。第二章為文獻回顧，簡單回顧同性戀權利運動的歷史以及美國各州對於同性婚姻議題的相關法律狀況。第三章為美國婚姻與性別之法律關係，從法律上對婚姻的定義進而瞭解婚姻對於同性伴侶的價值與意義。第四章為美國同性婚姻合法化之影響 ，探討法律上對於同性婚姻逐漸合法化後，美國社會對於同性婚姻的民意是否也跟著有所轉變。第五章為結論。 Marriage is the fundamental right enjoyed by every citizen in the United States. However, in the past seventeen years (1996-2013), the so-called legal marriage only stands for one man and one woman under the principle of Defense of Marriage Act. With the raising consciousness of equal rights nowadays, whether or not the same-sex marriage should be legalized has become an important issue in the American society. Thesis started from the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the law barring the federal recognition of same-sex marriage in United States v. Windsor on 2013.June 26. This research mainly analyze about the changing trends over the American society on the issue of same-sex marriage, and also focus on whether or not the individual sexual orientation, ages, religion and political orientation affect the American people to have different options on same-sex marriage. Furthermore, this research also discusses about the impact and the following trends on the American society. Chapter One is the introduction of the research, which explains the purpose of the study. Chapter Two is the literature review, a brief review of the historical movements on LGBT rights and same sex marriage in the American society. Chapter Three analyzes the law and Acts that stand for legal marriage, especially the gender issue. Chapter Four analyzes the social feedback in terms of same-sex marriage in the American society. Finally, Chapter Five is the conclusion.
