Gay Marriage In America Essay

Same-sex marriage in America

The idea of legalizing same-sex marriage is a hotly contested subject in America today. Similar to women’s equal rights and civil rights for African-American’s, equal rights for homosexuals is having a tough time being accepted by American government and by American society. I feel that equal rights for gays and lesbians should be a policy adopted by the American government. These equal rights would include all the same rights given to heterosexual couples such as medical benefits, retirement benefits, military benefits, adoption rights, and legal recognition. I also believe that the government should increase education concerning homosexuality, promote homosexual tolerance and increase AIDS education. There are many popular arguments going against same-sex marriage. Many people think that by allowing homosexuals to marry the sanctity of marriage will be destroyed. Personally I think that is a silly argument. By allowing same-sex marriage the government would be saying that it believes in the sanctity of marriage so much that they are willing to allow it to be an ever-changing policy. The government has, in the past, allowed marriage policy to change. There was a time when African-American’s were not allowed to legally marry one another; once that hurdle was
cleared there was the battle to allow mix-raced marriages. Once again the American marriage policy changed into a more tolerant policy. Compared the struggle that American-American faced for equal rights, the gay and lesbian equal rights movement is in its infancy, but I believe that they will eventually change. Another argument against same-sex marriage is that allowing same-sex marriage would weaken traditional family values. If by traditional family values you mean deadbeat dads, single mothers and a divorce rate that is skyrocketing. American’s today are weakening traditional family values fine on our own. I feel that by allowing same-sex marriage to exist, America is improving family values and letting go of so called traditional ideas. The family of today is no longer a mommy, a daddy and 2.5 kids. The divorce rate is over 50%, which is hardly a number to use as a defense for keeping marriage between a man and a woman. The divorce rate would actually decrease by allowing more people to get married. Some have argued that marriage is for procreation and homosexuals cannot procreate which would inhibit the continuation of the species. What a ridiculous argument. First of all, infertile couples are allowed to marry and they can’t procreate, also couples who wish to marry aren’t asked if they plan on having children or not. And by the way, with our planet as overpopulated as it is I highly doubt that allowing homosexuals to marry would bring us to extinction. Infertile couples would be encouraged to adopt a child in need of parents, while gay couples are banned from adopting a child together. It is very sad to think about a homosexual person adopting a child and raising that child with their partner, one day the parent dies and the partner has no legal rights to a child that he or she could have helped to raise from birth. Sexual orientation should not matter. I feel that the transition to equality in marriage could be implemented fairly easily. Simply make no distinction between marriage between a man and a women and marriage between same-sex couples. I am sure that it would not go this smoothly what with the fight from religious people and from homophobes but it is still a fight that needs to be fought. By denying homosexuals the right to marry, the government is in essence saying that being homosexual is wrong. How can a government say that homosexuality is wrong and at the same time have laws protecting homosexuals from being discriminated against? I think that the government should allow same sex marriage and at the same time increase homosexual education. This education would include promoting homosexual tolerance and increasing AIDS education. Teaching people that being gay is not a choice and that gays aren’t the only people who have AIDS would be a great start to a nationwide acceptance of homosexual equality. Disallowing homosexuals the right to marriage is a denial of their civil liberties. Gays and lesbians should be able to receive equal health benefits, retirement benefits, military benefits, loans, adoption and legal benefits such as the right not to testify against a spouse in court. Homosexual couples are often denied the right to make medical decisions for their partners, often leaving it to estranged families to deal with. One argument that I have a real problem with is the argument that says that by promoting homosexual equality we will turn people gay, and the argument that homosexual parents will turn their children gay.
This is such a ridiculous argument. In the first case we can look at all the gay people in our society and see that they didn’t come from gay parents. We can also look at children of gay parents who have grown up heterosexual. These children are usually much more tolerant and accepting of people, no matter their sexual orientation. I would much rather have a country filled with tolerant and accepting people than with narrow-minded and intolerant
ones. In conclusion, same-sex marriage should be legalized in America. Same-sex couples deserve the same rights as heterosexual couples. The United States government needs to finally give homosexuals the same civil rights that they have previously given to women and to African-Americans. By continuing to deny the right to marriage, the right to receive benefits and other important family policies, the government is essentially saying that homosexuality is wrong. Being gay is not wrong and America needs to be educated to understand why it isn’t wrong.