Evan Bennett November 4, 2010 Persuasive Essay Gay discrimination is a major problem that affects individuals all across the country. The Defense of Marriage Act needs to be repealed. First, the Defense against Marriage Act will be explained and then why it needs to be repealed, then the effects the law has on society. The federal government needs to give same sex couples the same health benefits that heterosexual couples receive. Currently, the government offers employees benefits such as health insurance and retirement savings, but they extend only to heterosexual couples. This means that same sex couples are not receiving the same amount of money as heterosexual couples. 57% of the fortune 500 companies, on the other hand, offer …show more content…
The Defense against Marriage Act is the law that forbids same sex couples from receiving federal government health insurance. Imagine how this impacts those gay or lesbian youth who are struggling with fitting in at schools and are feeling scared, ashamed and consequently depressed because of their sexuality. In the news recently, gay teens took their lives because they felt bullied by other classmates. According to cnn.com Tyler Clementi, a gay youth committed suicide by jumping off a bridge after his sexual encounter with a man was taped and put online. Donna Witsell committed suicide after she was embarrassed by a sexual incident. These are examples of the kind of discrimination and oppression gay teens feel, because they’ve been brought up in a society where gays felt like outcasts and unwanted. The Cyber Bullying Center conducted a study of 4,440 youth and found one in five youths between the ages of 10 and 18 have been a victim of cyber bullying or participated in it. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, kids spend an average of seven and half hours a day on the internet, which increases cyber bulling. In recent weeks, gay teens show that they are stepping out and saying how they have been bullied and contemplated suicide like Joey Kemmerling. He has faced relentless bullying since he “came out of the closet” in 8th grade” and heavily contemplated ending his life, according to cnn.com. As shown above, bulling has become
Having escaped rule from a tyrannical British government, the United States was founded on ideals of freedom and equality for all people. These fantasies of universal egalitarianism turned out to be merely that: fantasies. American history is full of stories of the oppressed struggling to get the rights they deserve and of the controversy over these issues that consequently ensues. “The Hypocrisy of American Slavery” by Frederick Douglass and “We Shall Overcome” by Lyndon B. Johnson are two speeches made confronting two of these issues. Douglass’s speech, delivered in 1852, condemns the institution of slavery and maintains that slaves are men and are therefore entitled to freedom. Johnson’s speech, on the other hand, was written in 1965 and discussed the civil rights movement. In it, he implored local governments to allow all American citizens, regardless of race, to vote. Despite the significant gap in time between these two addresses, both speakers use similar persuasive techniques, including ethos, pathos, and parallelism, to convince their audience that change needs to be implemented in America.
The debate on whether the constitution should be changed to allow gays/lesbians legal status, whereby the partners are protected while in the institution of marriage is a heated debated which has been ongoing in many years. There are those states whereby the rights of gays/lesbians to have legal marriages have been recognized, but in most of the states their right to legal marriage have not been recognized. This essay looks at the reasons why the American constitution should be amended to ensure that all states across the United States recognizes the rights of gays/lesbians to have legal marriages. The argument will focus on the impact that lack of legal marriages have on the gay and lesbian partners and the reasons why constitutional amendment can only be the best solution to resolve the issues of the rights for the gay community to a legal marriage.
The Defense Marriage Act is also known as DOMA. This act has been around for decades and continues to change over the years to shape individuals rights and needs. Individual’s perception of marriage equality is constantly evolving, and the number of government officials that recognize same-sex marriage is constantly changing (Rodriguez & Blumell, 2014). This act not only affects the LGBTQ community and their families, but also affects the whole nation. Many have different opinions on the topic and what should be in the Defense Marriage Act. Some were elated with the recent decision in the summer of 2013 the LGBT community where included in the Defense Marriage Act. This arose when the language of section (2) in the DOMA, was defined as unconstitutional
The political aspects of whether same-sex couples should be allowed to federal and government recognized marriages are a very complex issue. There are basically two sides to the political argument of whether same-sex couples should be allowed to marry. On one side are the liberals who feel that marriage is a civil right that should be denied based on the basis of a person's sexual orientation. On the other side you have conservatives who feel that marriage is an institution in which should only constitute one man and one woman. In this report we are going to examine how the issue of same-sex marriages are affecting our current political environment, how politics is affecting the movement for
Marriage provides both physical and psychological health benefits and banning gay marriage increases rates of psychological disorders. The American Journal of Public Health found that after their states had banned gay marriage they had a 37% increase in mood disorders, a 42% increase in alcohol- use disorders, and a 48% increase in generalized anxiety disorders. Banning gay marriage is against the constitution. It’s protected by Constitutions commitments to liberty and equality. The US supreme court ruled in 1974s Cleveland Board of
As of 2015, the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community continues to struggle for equal rights held by their straight counterparts. Socially, LGBT persons are subject to discrimination, hate crimes, and stigma, while legally, LGBT persons encounter obstacles that preclude them from basic rights afforded to every other subculture in America. One of the most divisive issues related to LGBT rights has been same-sex marriage, which has been creating conflict both politically and socially dating back to the 1970’s (Finnis, 1997). Those in favor of same-sex marriage argue that regardless of gender or sexual preference, marriage is a basic right that the government has no legitimate interest in blocking. Opponents argue that
At every level of government, laws are passed to implement a public policy. In fact, almost every law in the country enforces some public policy or provides for some kind of public service. Public Policy plays important roles in areas such as: requiring immunizations and setting speed limits to limiting sales of firearms and restricting the sale of drugs and alcohol. Laws are intended to serve the greater good by implementing public policies. This assignment will analyze specific implications of public policy on laws/regulations for gay marriage. This assignment will describe the stakeholders involved; describe the laws and bills that are related to the issue; explain the controversy or debate surrounding the issue;
Gay marriage is a topic that is widely discussed and debated similar to racism or women’s rights, but now that gay marriage is legal people are still trying to ban their freedom statewide. All American couples deserve decent health care, spousal death benefits, and all other privileges afforded through marriage. Same sex unions should not be different from heterosexual marriages.
Gay rights is a very popular issue in American politics that asks ask the question “Should same sex marriage be recognized legally.” Some Americans support gay rights and believe all homosexuals deserve the right of protection from discrimination. They do not believe marriage would devalued but would allow homosexuals to have same benefits and security as heterosexual couples. Some of the rights same-sex marriages would be entitled to include: eligibility of health insurance through each other’s employers, visitation rights in hospitals and jails, and the right to sue over wrongful death of a partner, right to refuse to testify against spouse in court, tax and Social Security benefits. Opponents of the gay rights movement believe marriage is between one man and one woman. They believe it is a wrong and unnatural act that devalues the institution of marriage. They believe marriage is meant to foster two-parent families that are the foundation of our society. Gay rights have been a controversial issue for many years, but until recently there had not been any real progress in ensuring same-sex couples have the rights they deserve that are given to heterosexual couples and crushing the belief that being who they are is wrong or shameful.
When you have a dream, what are your dreams made of? In my opinion, dreams are just like treasures of life. Each dream is owned by a different person, and no one can criticism it. “Never let anyone lower your goals” (Alexander 66). Dream just likes spiritual support to a person. Having a dream will give people hopes to think that they have the abilities to do variety of businesses in the world. In this case, dreams encourage people to learn persevere because during the process of approaching goals, there will be enormous mount of difficulties. Thus, people will be persist by convincing themselves that they have the ability to overcome. In the book, The Crossover, Josh Bell who is the main character wants to be one of the best basketball player in the world, and this is his goal. However, during the process of becoming the best player, he met lots of difficulties, so he practiced harder to “Hustle dig/ grind push/ run fast/ change pivot/ chase pull/ aim shoot/ work smart/ live smarter/ play harder/ practice harder” (Alexander 57).
Thousands of rescuers di per year because they are trying to save a person from a dangerous situation that they got themselves into. They try to save people that get themselves stuck in a burning building, people that are drowning because they got themselves stuck in the current of the ocean, or even people that are being reckless on and fall into the crevice of a mountain. Shouldn’t rescuers save themselves instead of paying the price of a careless act of a person? Rescuers put their lives in crisis to save people from dangerous situations when there isn’t even a 100% possibility of them being saved. Services should not be provided to people because climbers are old enough and responsible enough to know what they are getting into, rescue equipment isn’t alway reliable, and because innocent rescuers are putting their lives at risk to save other people.
Same-sex marriage is a topic that has become increasingly more debatable throughout time. America has been said to be the “land of the free,” but when it comes to homosexual couples, it is far from that. If same-sex marriage was legalized, many positive outcomes could emerge from it; the society would be closer to equality, adoption would increase, gained social support for families would develop, and it would positively affect the economy and tax revenues.
We all have sibling who we do not get along with. Some may make you want to rip your head off, others may make you want to squeeze them to death. Or another just stand out more than other because of how unique they are. For example, Leslie falls into the last category, she is a superstar that you would not miss when she walks into a room filled of people. This is Leslie Gonzalez..
In this world there is nothing I hate more than a Liar , any person who can sit in my face and tell a fabricated story and deceives with no problem gets zero respect from me. I never understood the point of lying because once a lie is told people have to keep up with it. In order to tell one lie they have to continue to cover the story so at that point they become a liar unless the person comes clean but after that the trust is gone. There is no reason a person should have to say false things because eventually the truth comes out , leaving them looking very stupid and untrustworthy. If everyone was just honest the world would be a much better place. I rather someone hurt me with the truth than comfort me with a lie. Sometimes the truth might ruin everything but if we as humans didn’t do wrong by everyone in our lives that wouldn’t ever be a problem.
Same-sex marriage; why is it even an issue in this era? To put it into perspective, almost 9 million Americans are identified as a homosexual, meaning this is not just a minor issue. Also, with our society making significant movements toward equality in recent decades both in gender and racial issues, one has to think about sexual equality in the United States. I will explain to the reader why we should legalize same-sex marriage, especially in terms of justice and the benefits our society receives from same-sex marriage. Also, the consequences of the legalization of same-sex marriage, both for homosexuals and our society, will be examined. Finally, I will debate arguments against same-sex marriage.