Gay Marriage Should Be Legal

A gay couple from Indianapolis who have waited to marry for years have been quoted as saying: “We 're positive because the mindset in this nation seems to be that it is unconstitutional to say that our marriages are different from any other marriage.” (pro-con,1) This means that gay people are staying optimistic. Prohibiting gay marriage is considered discrimination to gays because the government is not giving homosexual couples the same rights as gay heterosexuals, which is also unconstitutional. Therefore, same-sex couples should have access to the same marriage benefits and public acknowledgment enjoyed by heterosexual couples. (pro-con,1)

Gay marriage has slowly become a significant factor amongst individuals of today’s society. On June 26, 2015, it was ruled out by the U.S. Supreme Court that gay marriage was now legal. The first thing that I thought was that “Wasn’t it already legal in the United States?” Well, apparently no it has not been legalized in the United States! (Dumb me.) The U.S. is known to be a nation of equality and gives everyone the freedom of the speech, but it is actually a nation full of racism, sexism, and homophobias. Our country gives us the freedom to do many things, but to gay couples they don’t have much freedom as others do. We are violating their freedom because we aren’t letting them marry the one they love, so to say that everyone in the U.S. has the freedom to do anything is wrong. Our civil rights and the Constitution give us many liberties. One of our civil liberties is the pursuit of happiness, which many homosexual people are not allowed to chase, but thanks to the new ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court homosexual people are allowed to chase it. They are being looked down at and are feeling ashamed of themselves because of all the cruelty that they are receiving. Homosexual people haven’t been able to fully express themselves until it was legalized for them to fully do so. They have been fighting for the right to be married to their same sex for about a decade now, and they have finally met their goal. #Lovewins.

While some states have began to embrace the civil rights of all American people and allowing both hetero- and homo-sexual couples to marry, some states have done quite the opposite and banned same sex marriages and unions. Not all Americans feel so strongly about legalizing same sex marriage. Those against same sex marriage believe marriage has been defined as being between a man and a woman. However, that has not always been true, as explained in the beginning of this paper, the ancient people commonly wed the same gender and them and also had same sex sexual relations (ProCon.org). In fact in the first century Nero the Emperor of Rome married at least two of his lovers who were men (Chastain 19.) It was not until Christianity became a wide spread religion that sodomy and homosexuality became immoral. Those who oppose the legalization of gay marriage also believe that same sex marriage will threaten the institution of marriage. Marriages since 2011 have been at a new low, with only 52 percent of adults being married (Yen). However gays are fighting for the right to marry who they love, while heterosexual couples take that for granted. Divorce rates are currently lingering around 40-50% that is without gays being able to be married in many states. By allow homosexuals to marry their significant others, it will allow for a stronger bond and maybe bring back life into the deteriorating world of marriage. In states that do allow for same sex marriages, their divorce rates are

Opponents of legalizing gay marriage claim homosexuality is against natural order and view marriage as a sacred pact between a man and a woman. In their eyes, it will ruin the traditional institution of marriage. In 1971, the Supreme Court decided that “the institution of marriage as a union [was] of man and woman” in the Baker v. Nelson case (“Gay” 2). The United States government has defined marriage as such. Allowing homosexuals to marry will redefine the very foundation that Americans thrive on. And whose to say it will end with gays being allowed to wed? The entire process will lead down a slippery slope of allowing polygamous, incestuous, bestial, and other nontraditional relationships being able to marry (“Gay” 2). In addition, marriage is for the sake of procreation and children are negatively affected in a queer environment. The statistics speak for themselves. Children raised by gay couples constantly lack either a father or a mother figure and are thus 12% more likely to engage in homosexuality and promiscuity (Roleff 87). Kids can never identify with their own gender or have an opposite gender role model in a homosexual atmosphere. We need the future generation to grow up in the

Legalizing gay marriage has given America a troubling debate throughout a majority of the states. With only thirty-seven states allowing legal gay marriage, the other thirteen have either banned it or are still deciding (unknown, 2015, para 1). Gay marriage is seen as different and wrong to so many people in America that is has become sickening. People do have their differences and as Justin Timberlake once said, “We’re people and we’re different, all of us. And we should be using our differences to bring ourselves closer together” and with this being said, everyone is equal to one another in different ways (Timberlake, 2014, 10). For example, two people could have two different religions, which is different, but also equal in the sense

Out of all the thousands of rights, marriage equality; equal acceptance of same-sex marriages; is the biggest controversy. Opposite sex couples believe that gay marriage will harm or destroy marriage all together if it is allowed, because it is not a ‘traditional’ marriage between one male and one female. Only banning same-marriage will destroy marriage and society. Marriage is a keystone of our social order. Studies show that the United States has one of the highest divorce rates when compared to other countries (infogr.am). Allowing gays the privilege to get married will increase marriage rates and less couples will get divorced due to not being attracted to the opposite sex. The Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Law and Public Policy, which has conducted previous studies on same-sex relationships and parenting, collected administrative data on divorce rates between lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender couples from New Hampshire and Vermont. The data found that same-sex couples divorced at an average rate of 1.1 percent annually between the two states, compared with 2 percent annually between heterosexual pairs

In the database, “Marriage, Same-Sex,” it states, “In the United States, the states differ greatly with respect to the ways that they treat same-sex relationships. Some states not only refuse to recognize same-sex relationships but also have passed state constitutional amendments precluding,” which shows that some states have made the situation even harder by not only not only ignoring their benefits, but making laws opposing them (Darity 620). Recognizing same sex marriage is vital for many same sex couples because not allowing marriage can be an emotional blocker between two people, and doing this sends a message to society that certain individuals either cannot commit to marriage or, perhaps, do not deserve the opportunity to marry. Equally important, because same sex couples are not acknowledged, they do not acquire many legal, financial, social, and federal advantages that marriage usually grants two people, such as benefits in tax, estate planning, government, employment, medical, death, family, housing, consumer, etc. The database, “Marriage, Same-Sex,” also declares, “same-sex couples are not entitled to the numerous federal benefits that are accorded to different-sex married couples, because the

More recently, a 1967 the Supreme Court announced, “marriage is one of the most basic civil rights of man…essential to the pursuit of happiness” (Stoddard 52). Men and women alike all want to reach happiness, and our country may be keeping homosexuals to reach this state of mind because some people do not deem it necessary for same-sex couples to marry. Letting homosexuals marry will not hinder our society in any way, European countries that have legalized same-sex marriages have not seen any changes in

America declares itself as the great country of liberty, the great country of opportunities and the great country of equality. As long as an American wants to marry a person of the opposite sex there seems to be no limits to their pursuit of happiness. Even in the progressive, modern year of 2015, the question of whether or not gay couples should be permitted to perform the act of a legal marriage divides the United States of America into two. Although more than half of the states have legalized gay marriage, fourteen states, including Kentucky, reject the idea of homosexual couples as equals to heterosexual couples. The fact is that an exclusion of marriage for gay couples is a limitation of their personal rights and is unequal, unfair,

Most people believe that they deserve the rights they are granted by the government. An upstanding citizen who pays their taxes, serves their community and abides by the law should be afforded the rights of an American. However, not all citizens are afforded equal rights. Gay and lesbians are consistently denied rights that are typically taken for granted by the average American. Specifically, gay and lesbians couples are denied the right to marry even if they are upstanding citizens. They are held at an unfair disadvantage solely because of their sexual orientation. This discrimination must stop because gay and lesbian couples are law-abiding citizens too, who should be afforded the same rights as heterosexual couples.

Currently, the Webster’s New World Dictionary defines the word married as being husband and wife, yet there are millions of gay activists who are fighting for a new meaning. They believe marriage is more than a piece of paper and a set of rings. The hope is that marriage could be defined as a “public recognition of a private commitment” or “emotional, financial, and psychological bond” between two people (Sullivan 53). Gay activists believe that taking away the ability to have a publicly recognized relationship or an accepted union is an infringement of their public equality. However, non-supporters of this cause believe that gay marriage is “an attack on the institution of marriage” (Capello 25). These dissenting opinions are what

Right now our country is still dealing with one of the bigger social issues that plagues our society. People will argue for and against it in many different ways, whether it be right or wrong. The issue at hand is whether gay marriage should be legal or illegal. There are arguments on both sides of the spectrum, but at the end of the day gay marriage should be legal in all 50 states. Marriage is a right and freedom that should not be denied to any one person because of sexual orientation.

“We’re here, we’re queer, get over it.” In 1990, these words, shouted and displayed proudly on signs waved by the activist group, Queer Nation, were revolutionary. Never, not since the Stonewall Riots, had non-straight, non-cis people been so vocal about their existence and demanded acceptance – something that straight people take for granted on a daily basis. However, in the years since the Riots, LGBT activism has become much more mainstream, no longer whispered about behind closet doors or something to be wholly ashamed of. Gay marriage is legal in all 50 United States, something that has been fought for since the conception of the LGBT movement. In fact, gay couples are routinely being featured on popular television and other forms of media. Some might say that in 2016, the dreams of the rioters in Stonewall have been realized. Marriage rights and the spotlight on nighttime television; equality seems to truly be right on the horizon.

Since gay marriage has been legalized in a handful of states, there have been more than 71,165 marriages (12 Reasons Why Marriage Equality Matters). However, there are hundreds happy couples that would like to be married all over the country. The real question is why does gay marriage matter to someone who is not gay? Does it make people question their own sexuality or go against religion? The LGBT community has rights just like everyone else, and a love that is true just an opposite-sex couples. There are 37 states out of the 50, which is over half, that gay marriage has been legalized in (Gay Marriage ProCon.org.). Gay marriage should widely be accepted by all the states and society.

Attention Getter: Apparently Gay marriage will destroy the institution of marriage but countless divorced heterosexual marriages, celebrity marriages that can hardly last over 2 weeks are not? How can gay marriage possibly destroy a institution that is already failing?