Gay marriage in the united states

Gay Marriage in the United States
By Teresenia Soto

2/14/2014
Mr.Cosma
JE Young

Will Rogers once said, “We will never have true civilization until we have learned to recognize the rights of others”. But, many will argue that this should not apply to all liberties of the American people; in fact they will differ with anyone who threatens their idea of right and immoral. For most, this argument begins with Gay Marriage.
As of 2014 there are now 17 states in union under same-sex marriage. These states consists of California, Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, Maine, Maryland, and Washington. As for the opposed, there are 33 states that banned the legal bonding of same sex couples; of these 33 states, people claim that a great percentage of their votes are influenced by Republican views. Republicanviews.org reports that the Conservatives have “always held a stance of opposing same sex marriages because it believes that the sanctity and value of traditional American morals need to be upheld and marriages can only be held between a man and a woman.” But, recent runner for U.S President and Republican, Mitt Romney, supports same sex marriage in his governing state of Massachusetts. From the looks of it not all Republicans hold the same impressions; people can choose to be accepting regardless of their political views. But if that’s the case then, why is it so difficult for a non-politically employed, average American to do the same. As for Democrats, this liberal party stands “with the LGBT community in the fight to ensure that all Americans benefit from the civil rights that each of us deserves—because the fight for equality affects us all” (according to Democrats.org). Equality does affect us all, that is true. Everyday people risk their life defending what they think is right for themselves and others; put their lives on the line for the smallest ounce of equal opportunity. It’s been this way for decades. Generation after generation there is a new dispute. It’s always been this way and I doubt it will ever end. But if humanity, and at the least America itself, can come together and agree that something as simple as the right to bond two lovers no matter what their sex, then Americans will be giving a new meaning to The United States of America--It might, just feel a little more united.
Now days, there is a new kind of segregation amongst American citizens. There are the LGBT community supporters and there are those whom remain opposed. About 52% of Americans said they’d be pro vote for an amendment that would legalize same sex marriage in all 50 states. 54% of Americans in a survey said they think homosexual marriage should be recognized by the law the way they have done for heterosexuals. There is also a significant age gap. According to Washingtontimes.com, the 39% of Americans 55 years of age and older are more likely to vote against such amendments as opposed to the 69% of people between the ages of 18 and 34 that would. It seems that there is a frequent trend here; elders, stuck to a specific way of thinking, have become less accepting to today’s sexual diversity; as where “youngsters” and people of mid ages are more susceptible to acknowledging same sex love and legal bonding. “Gay rights are just a matter of time. Look at the polls. Worrying about gay marriage--let alone gay civil unions or gay employment rights, is a middle-age issue. Young people just can't see the problem. At worst, gays are going to win this one just by waiting until the opposition dies off,” says Gail Collins. Why? Why is it that society’s younger ages have no issue with the LGBT community? The answer: they were born into a time where it isn’t about what you look like, where you’re from, or even who you love. It’s just about surviving, it’s just about living.
Same sex marriage and gay rights are something new and yes, people don’t know how to act with “new”. It’s different, it’s scary and it can change things forever. But that doesn’t mean they can change for the worst, ultimately it can develop us to be better. 150 years ago, a black man could be executed for attempting to peruse relations with a white woman. That is less than 2 lifetimes ago. But today is considered racist and immoral to be against interracial couples. There are now multicultural families and mixed races. African Americans, Caucasians, Orientals, all work together side by side in companies, schools, neighborhoods. It is now the “norm” to have a mixed racial society. So who’s to say it will be any different with homosexual couples in the next generation, or the generation after that. Same sex couples are unavoidable, and same sex marriage is inevitable. It is going to happen, maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow; but it will happen.
“We are still not being treated equal”, says Nick Porto who was jumped and beaten for holding his significant others hand in Maddison Square Garden. “For a long time I was scared to be myself and now that everything has calmed down, I still have to move to a different place just to be able to show it”, said a homosexual couple to a DNAinfo Reporter. In countless situations people have drifted through miles of oceans, dropped everything and risked their families lives to make it to the country boarder, took dangerous life threatening journeys just to get into America where they knew they could be themselves; where they knew they would be treated the way a person should be, where everyone and everything has an equal chance to live the lives they want. If we take that away we are not just taking away human rights, we are taking away the American dream.

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