Persuasive essay - Love

On June 26, 2015, the US Supreme Court ruled that the US Constitution guarantees the right for same-sex couples to marry. Many conservative groups do NOT agree with this decision. The gay marriage debate has been simmering for as long as I can remember. The four articles I have selected give information from four different perspectives including that of liberals, conservatives, homosexuals, and orthodox Jews. With so many differing opinions, one can understand why it's been so hard for the nation to come to agree on this issue.

Much has been said about love, but if you search the horizon, you will discover that most of the things written about love are either pithy or cynical.

Miller, Lisa. “Gay Marriage: Our Mutual Joy.” Wake Tech English 111 Reader, edited by Julie Fenton- Glass, Leslie Graybeal, et al. Mason: Cengage, 2015, pp. 177-182.

In this article, Blinder and Perez-Pena discuss the decision of a county clerk in Kentucky to deny marriage license to a homosexual couple. Two couples later tried to confront her along with numerous journalists. When asked under whose authority she acted she claimed “Under God’s authority” (Blinder and Perez-Pena A1). She claimed that same sex marriage violates her beliefs and thus she will not comply with the ruling of the justices earlier this year. As aresult, the couple took the clerk to court.

Debates about gay marriage continue to simmer within American public discourse, though much of the more heated rhetoric has calmed since the earliest efforts to legalize same-sex marriage succeeded in numerous states. These debates have spanned many topics, ranging from religion to politics and beyond. Andrew Sullivan, a prominent gay and self-described conservative political commentator, addressed one angle of the issue in his July 19, 2011 Newsweek Magazine article “Why Gay Marriage is Good for America.” Through a mixture of personal reflection, social commentary, and political argumentation, Sullivan’s article is less a defense of gay marriage than it is a defense of the idea that gay marriage is compatible with conservative political values. Although Sullivan makes a good case for his position in the article, his argument is ultimately under-developed; the lengthy personal reflections serve to reinforce a relatively minor point in the context of the larger argument, shifting focus away from the more relevant portions of the argument.

“Discrimination and inequality faced by gays and lesbians in the United States are widespread, and the social movement to end such with the principles of equality and fairness.”( Blackwell, C. W., Ricks, J. L., & Dziegielewski, S. F. (2004). I do feel that we as society has come a long way since the Stonewall Riots of 1969 when it comes to obtaining equal rights for the GLBTQ community. However, there are still segments of today's population that hold personal prejudices against gays and lesbians. With these prejudices, it’s important to understand that there is a direct correlation between discriminatory practices within the state and federal systems and public policy drafting. As I have mentioned, we have come a long way in regards to changing policy and practices with our Country. However, there is still much work to be done regarding issues that affect the gay and lesbian population when it comes addressing lifestyles and equal rights. Here are just some examples of rights that many take for granted. However they are not always afforded to the gay and lesbian population and their

As time has changed, a new wave of discrimination has taken shape in the United States. This new discrimination comes in the form of homophobia and heterosexism. Walls (2008), suggested that heterosexism, racism, sexism, and class privilege are systems of advantage that provide those with the “right” sexual orientation, race, gender, and class with opportunities and rewards that are unavailable to other individuals and groups in society. Homophobia and heterosexism come in various forms that include both overt and subtle forms of discrimination. Choi, et al. (2011) has suggested that the effects of homophobia and heterosexism are more pronounced in African American communities. Those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT),

Critique of Bennett’s “Against Gay Marriage” Gay marriage is repeatedly under the magnifying glass in the media, the papers, and constantly opposed by adamant conservative politicians. In his piece “Against Gay Marriage,” Bennett demonstrates this issue. William Bennett himself is a married conservative politician. Due to this, we can better understand the flailing urgency of his argument against homosexual marriage. Bennett takes a very strong and adamant approach to what is a particularly sensitive subject at this moment in time, and leaps into act of persuading his audience to turn away from the idea of legalizing gay marriage, or even to reject it.

The legalization of gay marriage has been a controversial issue in many state courts since the mid 1970s. Gay marriage scares many people because it strays from the norms of heterosexual relationships. Traditional American ideals have become a part of culture and society that everyone, regardless of sexual orientation, or race, or gender, expect to have as a basic human rights. Several times in history these have been identified as inalienable rights. One of the expected rights of many American citizens is the right to choose who they love, who they marry, and how they live their day to day life. When heterosexual Americans were introduced to the idea of same sex marriage, they became afraid that it would “taint the minds of the young members of the community,” since homosexualty was and still is frowned upon in the community. Thus, the homosexual community’s opportunity to freely choose how to live their life is taken

In addition to the hostility and embarrassment that homosexuals face every day, they also encounter political and legal policies and practices that prevent them from living a normal life like heterosexual people. For example, there are laws that prevent people of the same gender to be legally married to each other such as proposition eight in California. Gay people just want the right to be able to be happy with a significant other, make a family, and show their loyalty in each other through marriage. There is no difference whether that significant other is of the same gender or opposite, at the end of the day they just want that chance of happiness just like everyone else. Unfortunately, there are laws in places that prevent that from becoming true. Not allowing homosexuals to marry can affect many people’s lives and can even be detrimental to one’s health. For example in the article “The Case of Sharon Kowalski and Karen Thompson: Ableism,

This essay debates the issue of same sex marriage in the United States. It considers the pros and cons and examines the constitutional issues involved.

William Bennett, also an editor, takes the opposing side of the argument when he writes that gay marriages should not be made legal. Bennett, in his introduction however, takes a more direct approach to get to his topic. He immediately puts forth his thought and feelings and attempts to force them upon the reader. His first paragraph has three sentences. The first sentence distinguishes that there are two issues involved in homosexual marriages. The latter two recognize the two issues. They are: “if gay marriages would strengthen or weaken the institution of marriage” and the “basic understanding of marriage itself” (Bennett 29). Bennett stresses that the basic meaning of marriage is for a man and a women to wed themselves in order to be happy and start a family, something that a homosexual couple cannot do. Furthermore, he says that marriage thrives because of the compatibility of men and women and how the differences between the two make marriage that much stronger (Bennett 30). He compares it to a ying-yang opposites attract type of situation. Bennett also makes a drastic stereotype by saying that homosexual males are very promiscuous with their sexual partners, which can lead to “varied and complicated lives” (Bennett 29). Additionally, it seems even the members of the media tend to

Love is difficult to define, difficult to measure, and difficult to understand. Love is what great writers write about, great singers sing about, and great philosophers ponder. Love is a powerful emotion, for which there is no wrong definition, for it suits each and every person differently. Whether love is between family, friends, or lovers, it is an overwhelming emotion that can be experienced in many different ways.

As we know, same-sex marriage has been discussed and argued for a long time. Within the controversial topic of gay rights, there’s no area more controversial than same-sex marriage. And all of us ask ourselves if same-sex marriage should be legal or not. But the fact is that we have to start thinking about it as a moral and religious topic. The government shouldn’t legalize the same-sex marriage because the

Sullivan (2002) and Bennett (2002) both use religious assertions to explain their views on same-sex marriages. Sullivan (2002) says that