Gay Marriage Should Be Legal

Marriage has always been a sacred agreement between a man and woman. However, as times have changed, our ideas involving marriage are forced to change with the times. Our country has developed throughout the years to enforce the belief that all Americans should be granted equal rights no matter what their skin color or cultural background. Granting gays the right to marry would simply be giving all people equal rights in the issue of marriage.

Over 70% of the country agrees that gay couples should not be allowed to wed. Many have religious beliefs that God made men and women to marry and procreate. Some feel uncomfortable with the idea of two men being attracted to each other as well as two women being attracted to each other. Society has formed the idea that marriage is to be between a man and a woman so seeing anything different seems unnatural to some. However, many of these people are closed minded to the idea of gay marriage because it is different from their own personal lifestyle.

Opponents believe that same sex marriage is not right and you should be ashamed to be that way. While proponents say same homosexual couples should be able to publicly celebrate their commitment in the same way as heterosexual couples do. (pro-con,1) Many gay and lesbian couples want to marry because they are in love! Just because someone loves the same sex, does not mean they are different or love any different then heterosexuals. In fact, the Family Research Council shows statistics that gay and lesbians couples are proven to last longer and that they are much happier then heterosexual couples. (pro-con) They want to honor their relationship in the best way that society has to offer. They are making a public commitment to stand with each other in good times and bad, they are prepared to go through the joys and challenges life brings

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.

The majority of people who oppose gay marriage are religious conservative groups and people who believe in keeping marriage a sacred thing between a man and a woman. While this may be their belief system, this country was founded on religious freedom, where the people are allowed to worship how they see fit. A ground rule, set up from the beginning, states that separation needs to be made between religion and government, so the two shall never come together to become a theocracy.

America! What image of America is instilled in your mind? Perhaps a land where there are strong, hardworking men and women, whose children play baseball in the summer, get great grades in the school year, and even attend church every Sunday as a family. These are qualities of a traditional American family, increasingly becoming a thing of the past. We once were a God fearing nation and we’ve become a God challenging nation. America would lose its luster if gay marriage was legalized. Six states have already legalized gay marriage and approximately 41% of the United States population supports gay marriage (“Gay Marriage Statistics”). We all claim there is someone for everyone, and if someone loves another person, then let them be, but there is no value or moral in this

Francis DeBernardo, head of a LGBT Catholics organization, has said that "many gay and lesbian couples are leading lives of heroic devotion to each other, their children, and their communities. I hope and pray that you will reflect not only on the harm that this decree will cause but also the good that can occur if you withdraw it." (Crary). People who like the same sex shouldn't be categorized in society as people to be frowned upon when they lead a good example, but others disagree. This is why the discussion of same-sex couples is so controversial. Gay marriage is a very important issue in modern society in the U.S because it is more accepted than what it used to be by everyday people and household life is healthier than in opposite sex marriages; unfortunately, it is still frowned upon by many and some business owners still decline service due to discrimination.

Some people have unnecessary opinions on other people. One of the strongest arguments that happened recently is gay marriage. Although in America it has been legalized in all fifty states and some of the battle is done, it doesn’t stop all the problems. People who are gay in states that had formerly banned gay marriage are in danger. There are those who so strongly object to same sex marriage that they could take action by harming those who benefit. Then there is the whole “people can choose to be gay”, and religion aspect to it.

While other, non-supporters of this idea consider it anti-Christian and say it goes against God. To accept civil unions or gay-marriage between two people of the same sex would somehow diminish the value of the traditional union between a man and a woman, in their view.

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.

There are only 17 states that have legalized gay marriage. These states have seen some of the lowest divorce rates in United States history, and have the highest marriage rates. The other 33 states, which have bans on gay marriage, have high divorce rates. (“In the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit”) Despite the benefits seen from homosexual marriage, those who do not advocate same-sex marriage still argue that gay marriage should not be discussed legally. They feel that same-sex marriage is not a right.

“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.

Many people argue that gay marriage is morally wrong and unnatural because of religious beliefs. The Bible states that marriage should only be between a man and a woman. In the chapter of Leviticus, God says that same-sex marriage is an abomination, a hateful sin and those who commit this sin will be punished for it. Firstly, the argument made here is strictly limited religion while legalizing gay marriage is more of a governmental concern. The constitution has already addressed this issue by separating church and state in order to make laws fair and impartial to religion. To add on, not everyone in the U.S practices Christianity, so arguing that it is morally wrong because of one religion is unfair to those who believe otherwise. Furthermore, if everyone were to be Christian and followed every single rule in the Bible, our lives would all look very different. Finally, if we are still following scripture, we see in the book of John that God commands us to love one another as God loves us. As a result, those who argue against gay marriage may not have considered all the aspects of the Bible.

On June 26, 2015, the Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 vote for same-sex marriage to be legalized nationwide (Sanchez, CNN). This ruling led to

Have you ever thought about how it would feel to be discriminated against, just for whom you love? If you haven’t, that probably means you’re straight. Gays and lesbians all over the world often experience harassment, bias, fear, hate and more. And, it’s all because they love someone of the same gender.The discrimination doesn’t just occur because of a same-sex couple being seen together. What gets narrow-minded people even more riled up is the thought of a same-sex couple being allowed to get married. According to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, same-sex marriage is the state of being married to a person of the same sex or gender in a relationship like that of a traditional marriage. Throughout history, there have been naysayers that oppose