Today, 8 out of our 50 states has passed some sort of law, or regulation, that allows gay marriage in their own respected state. According to data released from the 2000 census bureau collection, there are now over 594,391 gay couples living in this country. With the increasing rate of LGBT activism, nationwide controversy has began to spread in the last few years. From gay pride marches, to sit ins, and to riots the issue of gay rights, and more specifically gay marriage, has become the civil rights movement of the 21st century. Because I uphold the notion that a “marriage” is under the power of a higher being for your respected religion, I believe it is appropriate to leave the decision of whom that religion decides to marry to that religion itself. What I do not agree with, however, is that gay and lesbian couples do not have the same legal and authoritative power that heterosexual couples do. In terms of civil rights, the issue should not be if the couple in question should be allowed marriage in their respected religion, but resolving the issue of civil unions that do not allow gay couples to have the same documental rights that a man and a women have when they are joined together in this country. By making a civil union and a marriage equal on the same playing field, as far a legal reasons are concerned, you are allowing that couple to uphold their constitutional right to be treated as an equal, benefiting society by allowing these unions to become stabilizing influences for families, and allowing the couple to gain benefits such as parental rights and right to property. The case for allowing gays to marry begins with equality, pure and simple. One set of loving, consenting adults should not be denied a right that other such adults have and which, if exercised, will do no damage to anyone else. By not allowing gays to have the same rights, it is in violation of the Equal Protection and Due Process clauses
Today, 8 out of our 50 states has passed some sort of law, or regulation, that allows gay marriage in their own respected state. According to data released from the 2000 census bureau collection, there are now over 594,391 gay couples living in this country. With the increasing rate of LGBT activism, nationwide controversy has began to spread in the last few years. From gay pride marches, to sit ins, and to riots the issue of gay rights, and more specifically gay marriage, has become the civil rights movement of the 21st century. Because I uphold the notion that a “marriage” is under the power of a higher being for your respected religion, I believe it is appropriate to leave the decision of whom that religion decides to marry to that religion itself. What I do not agree with, however, is that gay and lesbian couples do not have the same legal and authoritative power that heterosexual couples do. In terms of civil rights, the issue should not be if the couple in question should be allowed marriage in their respected religion, but resolving the issue of civil unions that do not allow gay couples to have the same documental rights that a man and a women have when they are joined together in this country. By making a civil union and a marriage equal on the same playing field, as far a legal reasons are concerned, you are allowing that couple to uphold their constitutional right to be treated as an equal, benefiting society by allowing these unions to become stabilizing influences for families, and allowing the couple to gain benefits such as parental rights and right to property. The case for allowing gays to marry begins with equality, pure and simple. One set of loving, consenting adults should not be denied a right that other such adults have and which, if exercised, will do no damage to anyone else. By not allowing gays to have the same rights, it is in violation of the Equal Protection and Due Process clauses