Civil Marriage for Same Sex Couples

Approved by Board of Directors

March 6, 2004

The issue of civil marriage for same sex couples is more than a moral, social, or political issue. It is about equal rights.

The President of the United States, George W. Bush, has announced his support for a Constitutional amendment banning “gay marriage.” If this occurs, the Constitution will actively support discrimination based on sexual orientation. Historically, the Constitution has been interpreted to mandate the expansion, rather than constriction of enumerated fundamental rights, foremost those of equal protection under those rights. Passage of the amendment would effectively stand our nation's most cherished legal document on its head.

In light of these developments, the Board of Directors of the Alaska Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers is taking a strong stand against such discrimination. The basis of this stance is the NASW Code of Ethics. Professional ethics are at the core of social work.

The NASW Code of Ethics speaks loudly about the issue of discrimination against sexual orientation. In the section titled “Social Workers’ Ethical Responsibilities as Professionals,” one finds the following statement about discrimination:

Social workers should not practice, condone, facilitate, or collaborate with any form of discrimination on the basis of …sexual orientation…

The second relevant Ethical Principle is “Social workers challenge social injustice”:

Social workers pursue social change, particularly with and on behalf of vulnerable and oppressed individuals and groups of people.

The Code of Ethics gives us a clear guide about how to respond to this discrimination against gay people. We must “pursue social change” because to remain silent on this issue would be equal to condoning the discrimination.

If there is any hesitancy on the part of social workers to make a clear statement against this discrimination, then another important section of the Code of Ethic should be reviewed, Cultural Competence and Social Diversity:

“Social workers should obtain education about and seek to understand the nature of social diversity and oppression with respect to…sexual orientation…”

Despite an individual’s personal feelings about the prospect of legalizing civil marriage for same-sex couples, as social workers we must educate ourselves about oppression and homophobia and take action against it in all its forms.

To that end, the Alaska Chapter of NASW strongly opposes any constitutional amendment, state or federal, that would ban civil marriage between same-sex couples or that would in any way make civil marriages for same-sex couples less than equal to those of opposite-sex couples.