Legalizing of Homosexual Marriages For as long as the institution of marriage has been around, so too has the belief that it represents the union of one man and one woman. Now gay men and lesbians are challenging that institution. They believe that their relationships mean the same in their sphere as heterosexual marriages do in our sphere. Homosexuals would like to see their marriages legalized. In 1991 three gay couples filed a lawsuit, in Hawaii, for denying them marriage licenses. They claim that the refusal amounts to gender discrimination, which violates the Equal Rights Amendment.