Traditional wedding vows state: "I, (name), take you (name), to be my (wife/husband), to have and keep from this day forward, for for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to be cherished; from this day forward until death do us part” (Callaway). bind together legally under the protection of laws. Couples are able to express and establish their lasting relationships in an official, public and permanent way. As homosexual relationships are increasingly accepted by the public, gay marriage has become one of the topics most controversial in the United States. The basic human right of marriage should not be limited to one man and one woman; same-sex couples should also be included and protected by law. Even though the right is not explicitly written into the Constitution, the Ninth Amendment demonstrates that rights which are not enumerated or enumerated in the Constitution are still retained by the people. The right to gay marriage is explicitly established in the precedents of Lawrence v. Texas and Loving v. Virginia. A legal precedent is a verdict of a previous court case decided by a higher court that must be followed by a lower court within the judicial system. It is intended as a reference or authority for judges to interpret an impending new conflict in relation to the law. The right to gay marriage is one of the fundamental civil rights implicitly written into the United States Constitution, demonstrating the importance of individual privacy and equal protection for all. Since ancient times (except in Greece), homosexual intimacy has been considered a sin by various religions. In 1778, congress officially……middle of paper……illiam and Jonathan Rauch. "Gay Marriage, Same-Sex Parenting, and American Children." The future of children. VOL. 15 (2005): 97-115. Network. 27 April 2014. Strasser, Marco. “Same-Sex Marriage and the Right to Privacy” Journal of Law and Family Studies [Online], 13 May 10, 2011 Shah, Dayna K. and United States. United States General Accounting Office. Defense of Marriage Act: Update to previous report. Washington, DC: U.S. General Accounting Office, 2004.Shapiro, Ellen. “Till Death Do Us Part: The Difficulties of Obtaining a Same-Sex Divorce.” Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy 8.2 (2013): 208-30. Network. May 3, 2014.Thoreau, Henry David. “Resistance to Civilian Government.” Civil disobedience. Boston: David R. Godine, 1969. Print."The Constitution of the United States," Amendment 1.US Const. I am. 4.USA Const. They are. 9.USA Const. They are. 14.