Gay Marriage Proposal

Did you know that the first legal gay marriage did not happen until 2004 while congress, the lawmaking branch of our nation’s government, has been around since it was created in 1787? It took our government two hundred and seventeen years to legalize gay marriage in just one state, one state out of fifty. Luckily, now there are 37 states in America that legalized gay marriage. But what is taking our country so long to end the struggle for equal rights in all of our states? There are still 13 states that have not legalized gay marriage yet, Michigan being one of them. Since Michigan has banned gay marriages there have been many petitions and riots to remove the ban and legalize gay marriages. Since gay and lesbian couples cannot get married in the state of Michigan, they are denied many marriage benefits, insurance, and other things in the state that heterosexual couples do receive. Many couples that disagree with these bans have tried to take it to court hoping to get a better answer. However, suing the government hasn’t worked for many people. This isn’t stopping gay and lesbian couples from trying to marry the person they love, and a difference could be made if we came together, gay or straight and helped do what is right. If we start a petition to remove the ban of same sex marriages and to make it legal for a gay or lesbian couple to elope, we could change thousands of lives in our state.
Marriage is said to be a lot of things: a commitment, a sexual relationship, a responsibility filled with love and joy. Marriage is a friendship made between two people that nobody else can compare to. And then of course there is another way to look at it all; the civil rights side. Marriage grants you many things in the United States like benefits that unmarried people don’t get a chance to have. Health care is a big help when you are married, and along with tax benefits, rights to adopt and custody of children, immigration rights, and better insurance policies. As it may seem like a privilege to get married and have all these benefits to come your way, states allow everyone except for gays and lesbians to get married. So convicted felons, murderers, rapists, and child molesters can all get married with no question about it as long as there is a witness, and as long as they are marrying someone of the opposite sex. In some states where same sex marriages are approved, there is still a bit of a hassle for the married couple. According to the article Is Full Marriage Equality for Same Sex Couples Next, “the Federal Defense of Marriage Act prevented same-sex married couples and their families from obtaining healthcare and other benefits they would otherwise receive, and forced them to undergo a complicated procedure for filing taxes” (Archibald, 2014). It may seem odd that a state can approve of so many different types of people to get married and allow anyone to have a marriage license, but does not allow same sex marriages to happen. And where same sex marriages are allowed to happen, there is still a consequence simply because they are gay.
Money is one of the most important things to everyone in this country, wealthy or not. It plays the biggest factor in all of our lives. In a New York Times post they showed that same sex couples that are denied marriage rights are estimated to pay about $41,196 to $467,652 in expenses in their lifetime because they are not able to get marriage benefits (Bernard, T. & Lieber, R. 2009). In our country there are about 1,138 different marriage benefits offered to heterosexual couples. Gay couples who do not receive marriage benefits have to pay thousands of dollars more on average every year. Unmarried women alone pay thousands of dollars every month more than the average married woman because of their lack of health benefits, insurance, and medical expenses.
The same sex marriage debate has been going on for quite some time. The religious aspect always gets thrown into play as some people believe that God created man and woman to love and reproduce, giving life and creating families. However, many Christians and firm believers of God believe that any man and woman created by god should all have the same rights as others. Many churches agree with this belief, allowing same sex marriages to be performed in their churches under the act of God. Churches of all different beliefs are sometimes split between the decision to allow same sex marriage or to deny them of their right to marry their partner. However, churches like United Church of Christ, Roman Catholic Churches, and Baptists are all for same sex marriages. Stated in an article, “Many same-sex marriage activists and historians have contested the claim that marriage has been a constantly changing practice that allowed or encouraged same-sex marriage, even within early Christianity” (Geraldine, A. K., & Wagner, R., 2015). Everyone throughout the United States has a different belief of the matter because of their religion. Some Jews and Muslims are against eating pork because it is against their religion, does this mean that pork should be illegal in America? (Nussbaum, 2009). In cases where religious beliefs are against gay marriage because people were created by God and were meant to reproduce and have children, their belief is contradicting. If all men and women who got married were meant to reproduce children, then why are couples who do not want kids allowed to get married? Women who are infertile are also allowed to get married. The ability to have kids or wanting to have kids has never been a requirement for marriage.
Speaking of children, gay couples clearly cannot have children, but that does not mean that they do not want them. Gay couples are willing to adopt kids from all around the world. In America alone there are more than a hundred thousand kids waiting to be adopted. Heterosexual couples are encouraged to adopt just as much as homosexual couples are, but nowadays heterosexual couples are taken more seriously and being considered and recognized as potential adopting parents. A Washington post columnist wrote, “We should be begging gay couples to adopt children. We should see this as a great boon that gay marriage could bring to kids who need nothing more than two loving parents” (Klein, E. 2013). In a psychological aspect, children who are found to have been adopted by homosexual couples are found to be more social and have much better academic and social skills. In a very popular TV show called Modern Family, there is a gay couple that adopts a baby from Vietnam. In the episode, they traveled all the way to Vietnam to adopt a beautiful baby girl, and later into the show throughout the seasons you see how much she grows and develops and how much her two fathers care and love her (Loyd, C. & Winer, J. 2009). One of her fathers is a lawyer, and the other one is a music teacher, both have secure jobs and good income. Thousands of kids that have been adopted by gay couples have had their lives change forever like Lily in Modern Family. They have been given a loving family and a roof over their heads and an opportunity to be someone in the world. Gay couples make great parents and if Michigan legalized gay marriages, imagine how many lives they could be saving or helping by adopting children. I know a gay couple myself that lives in Michigan and cannot get married but still wants to adopt a child. Hopefully the ban on their right to marry does not affect their chance to adopt a beautiful child since they are already not able to do one thing that they want to do so bad.
Michigan has gone through a lot in the past few years with a few of their most populated cities going into debt and filing bankruptcy. What people don’t know is that allowing same sex marriages to happen in the state could affect our economy in a positive way. Thousands of couples would jump at the chance to plan a wedding if it was allowed. To start they would have to buy a marriage license first, which costs about $20 in the state of Michigan. If five hundred people rushed to get marriage licenses, the state would make ten thousand dollars alone. Not including the expenses it costs to plan the wedding. Weddings are not cheap. Between a venue rental, the cake, food, clothes, and alcohol, you spend about $20,000 on average. That could be an insane amount of money for the state to help boost our economy. According to CNN, In July 2012 New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that gay marriage had contributed $259 million to the city 's economy since the practice became legal there in July 2011 (Ellis, B. 2012). Imagine this amount every year. Imagine the amount of money the economy could be boosted by in five or ten years from now. Imagine budget cuts coming to an end in Michigan, giving us more secure jobs and benefits in so many different ways. So many other states have been affected by this economy booster already like New York and California. We could make this happen if same sex marriages were legal in Michigan.
Another positive affect that could take its toll on homosexual couples is that legalizing same sex marriages could benefit gays in a psychological and physical way. With society looking down upon them and the government not allowing them to do the one thing they want to do the most, it could cause depression among many people. Not being able to show the love and affection for another legally could start to hurt after a while, especially if you don’t have the support that heterosexual couples have. Therefore, these people that are not so different than you and I are feeling like the outsiders, like they’re of rare species that people look down upon. This leads to depression, anxiety and health issues among gay couples. Statistics show that after many states banned gay marriages, gays and lesbians faced depression issues, mood disorders, anxiety disorders and an increase of alcohol abuse by 48%. Imagine the kids of the couples who did get married in other states seeing this debate on television and having other kids look down upon them because they have two dads or two mothers. It is mental abuse. If society didn’t make it such an issue then people would be more understanding of the idea. All fifty states would legalize it and there wouldn’t be a debate anymore.
There was a time when gay marriages were actually legal in Michigan, but only for a short time. Governor Synder of Michigan helped to remove the ban on same sex marriages and allowed about 300 couples to get married just last year. There were twenty one days to marry your partner in the state of Michigan but shortly after a voting was held. The government decided that the ban would be put back on, however Governor Snyder said that the 300 marriages that were legalized are to be seen as legal no matter what. Of course there was a huge devastation across the state by the couples that were not able to marry in that short time. Many heterosexual people stood by them in the debate, according to an article when interviewing a group of rioters they stated “We stand united in supporting the rights of all loving couples to marry, and urge you to join us in doing the same” (Press, A. 2014).
I can understand why the issue is such a debate in all different views on the situation. In the religious aspect, God did create man and woman. Not two women and not two men. The thought of reproduction is important to society and to people all together. We are always supposed to depend on the next generation to help take our country to another higher level. Some homosexual couples don’t even want to adopt children. It is also said that children need both a male and female figure in their lives to help keep them stable and comfortable by both point of views. In some states, benefits of marriage lessened when gay marriage became legal because there were so many more people who wanted to use these advantages that were offered to them. Maryland and Washington decided that only certain same sex couples could apply for different benefits. Some insurance policies began to only offer it to homosexual couples that were 62 and over just so that they didn’t have to penalize heterosexual couples that already had this insurance. So a huge effect could happen to some of the benefits that heterosexual couples take advantage of everyday.
Our country has faced a lot of issues since it was discovered. Racial issues and civil rights, women’s civil rights, abortion, and other many political things are still a debate today. In the latest study, it shows that only about 8.4 percent of Americans are homosexual. There are approximately 8.8 million Americans in the United States and 8.4 percent of them are such a threat to our society for no good reason whatsoever (Michaelson, J. 2008). How has such a small amount of people become the topic of everyone’s conversations or debates? How does the 8.4 percent of Americans affect the lives of the other 91.6 percent of America? As a citizen of the United States of America we should all be allowed the same rights, we should all be just as equal as the other. Equality has been another major issue in this country, especially with homosexuals. Why should we come to the conclusion that they should not have the right to get married in their home state? Why should we deny them the right to prove their love for their partner with a marriage license and huge venue? We shouldn’t. There’s no answer to justify the reason behind it all. Marriage is not about gender, it is about love and compassion and friendship and wanting to express the love for your partner legally. Gay or straight, everyone should be allowed to marry the one you love. Whether children should be in the picture is nobody’s choice or business but the married couple. The United States government should recognize same sex marriages in Michigan and every other state in the country. So let us forget about our irrational reasons and our faulty arguments and remember to honor the Pledge of Allegiance, “with liberty and justice for all.”

References
Archibald, C. J. (2014). Is Full Marriage Equality For Same Sex Couples Next? The Immediate and Future Impact of the Supreme Court’s Decision in the United States V. Windsor. Valparaiso University Law Review, 48(3), 695-713
Christopher Lloyd, & Jason Winer (2009). Modern Family. Los Angeles, Ca: American Broadcasting Company
Ellis, B. (2012). "Gay Marriage Boosts NYC 's Economy by $259 Million in First Year," CNN
Geraldine, A. K., & Wagner, R. (2015). Same-sex marriage debate. Salem Press Encyclopedia
Klein, Ezra. (2013). "Sorry, Justice Scalia: There’s No Evidence That Gay Parents Aren’t Great Parents." Washington Post
Michaelson, J. (2008). Chaos, Law, and God: The Religious Meanings of Homosexuality. Michigan Journal Of Gender & Law, 1541.
Nussbaum, M. (2009). A Right to Marry? Same-sex Marriage and Constitutional Law. Retrieved March 8, 2015 from http://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/a-right-to-marry-same-sex-marriage-and-constitutional-law
Press, A. (2015). Gov. Snyder: Michigan Will Recognize About 300 Gay Marriages. Time.Com, N.PAG.
Tara Siegel Bernard and Ron Lieber, (2009) "The High Price of Being a Gay Couple," www.nytimes.com

References: Archibald, C. J. (2014). Is Full Marriage Equality For Same Sex Couples Next? The Immediate and Future Impact of the Supreme Court’s Decision in the United States V. Windsor. Valparaiso University Law Review, 48(3), 695-713 Christopher Lloyd, & Jason Winer (2009). Modern Family. Los Angeles, Ca: American Broadcasting Company Ellis, B. (2012). "Gay Marriage Boosts NYC 's Economy by $259 Million in First Year," CNN Geraldine, A. K., & Wagner, R. (2015). Same-sex marriage debate. Salem Press Encyclopedia Klein, Ezra. (2013). "Sorry, Justice Scalia: There’s No Evidence That Gay Parents Aren’t Great Parents." Washington Post Michaelson, J. (2008). Chaos, Law, and God: The Religious Meanings of Homosexuality. Michigan Journal Of Gender & Law, 1541. Nussbaum, M. (2009). A Right to Marry? Same-sex Marriage and Constitutional Law. Retrieved March 8, 2015 from http://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/a-right-to-marry-same-sex-marriage-and-constitutional-law Press, A. (2015). Gov. Snyder: Michigan Will Recognize About 300 Gay Marriages. Time.Com, N.PAG. Tara Siegel Bernard and Ron Lieber, (2009) "The High Price of Being a Gay Couple," www.nytimes.com