Legalize It! (About Same-Sex Marriage)

LEGALIZE IT!
The debates over same sex marriage have been a long term conversation. As homosexual couples began to insist on recognition, some nations took the issue onto their policy agenda. But there are some arguments whic are against same sex marriage. The most important question here is “why?”. According to social constructionist thought, this hostility to same sex marriage is not because of internal logic, but because of cultural attitudes (Eskridge, 1993, p.1423) . However, this is not a satisfactory reason. Same sex marriage should be legal.
One of the arguments against same sex marriage is that homosexual relationships or marriages damage the institution of family. Functionalists argue that families are one of the most important institutions and they are the core of societies. Yet, for the sake of the system, families have to be with a man, a woman and children. All of these individulals have different responsibilities within the family. Women are house-keepers, men are bread-winners. And they also have different responsibilities on parenting. So, according to some theorists, same sex couples fail in parenting. Because of these gender oriented situations, states have doubts about legalizing same sex marriage. But there is not any psychological or sociological evidence to support that idea. First of all, sociological definition of the family is: “A primary sociological group consisting of parents and their offspring, the principal function of which is provision for its members” (Family, 2013). As we can see, sociological definition of family does not say anything about gender. Also, there is not any psychological evidence which proves that same sex couples have problems with parenting. They can be care-giving and loving parents as different sex couples.
Another argument against same sex marriage is about religion. According to Hebrew religions, especially Christianity, homosexuality is forbidden and those who are homosexuals go to hell for their sins. However, this argument is a little problematic, because there is not any specific information about homosexuality in holy books. According to the New Testiment (Christianity), Jesus never mentioned homosexuality, bot he did condemn all forms of sexual immorality: What comes out of you is what defiles you. For from within, out of your hearts, come wvil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile you. (TNIV, Mark 7:20-23)
On the other hand, religions other than Hebrew ones do not have any problems with this issue as it should be.
Besides, illegalizing same sex marriage is against civil rights. If we think why there are governments, the answer will be easy: To protect our rights. However, if governments decide who to marry whom, there will be conflicts of interests. Because there is not any logical reason for illegalizing same sex marriage. W. E. Eskridge (1993) argues this situation like this: ...under a gayliberal analysis, prohibiting same sex marriages is invalid precisely because it discriminates against lesbian and gay couples. Many scholars and some judges have argued that statutes classifying individuals on the basis of their sexual orientation should trigger heightened equal protection scrutiny.
Under such a scrutiny, state prohibitions of same sex marriage ought to be invalidated because no compelling state interest justifies treating gay couples differently from heterosexual couples. Like the sex discrimination argument, this claim can sometimes be asserted on the basis of statutary as well as constitutional rights.
A number of jurisdictions have enacted human rights statutes that broadly prohibit discriminating against lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals on the basis of their sexual orientation. (p. 1426-1426)
In addition, legalizing same sex marriage does not block any other individual’s rights. Nobody has any disadventages if a gay or a lesbian couple get married.
Also, taking rights of homosexuals under the assurance of governments may prevent social discrimination and hate crimes against homosexuals. States and governments play an important role on acceptance. For example, Netherlands is the first country in the world to create the possibility of gay and lesbian marriage (Same-sex marriage, 2013). And citizens are quite open-minded about the subject. However, the situation was not always like this. In 1988, there was a survey called “Cultural changes in the Netherlands” and people were asked how much they agreed with the statement “Gay couples should have the right to marry”. More than 40% Dutch respondents were against this. After same sex marriage was legalized in 2001, the same question with differeent wording was asked again in 2002: “Gay couples are now officially allowed to marry. Do you think that is a good thing, a bad thing or do you not mind either way?” And 10% of the responents thought it is a bad thing. The percentage fell further in 2010 to 8% (Keuzenkamp, 2011, p.22).
On the other hand, the situation is not as bright as Netherlands in Turkey. According to a survey in 2008, almost 35% of the respondents were against the statement: “Gay men and lesbians should be free to live their lives as they wish” (Keuzenkamp, 2011, p.10).
To sum up, legalizing same sex marriage is not an impossible thing. Despite all religious and cultural bias, homosexuals are just another subculture group which is exposed to discriminations because of dominant culture norms. But governments can do something about this invasion of civil rights and they should do. Because nothing or nobody has a right to do so.

References:
Eskridge, W. E. Jr. (1993). A history of same-sex marriage.Symposium on Sexual Orientation and the Law,79, 1423-1432. Retrieved July 7,2013, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1073379

Family. Retrieved July 8, 2013, from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Family

Keuzenkamp, S. The Netherlands Institute for Social Research, Youth and Family research group. (2011). Acceptance of homosexuality in the Netherlands 2011. Netherlands: The Netherlands Institute for Social Research.

Same-sex marriage. (n.d.). Retrieved July 7, 2013, from http://www.government.nl/issues/family-law/same-sex-marriage

References: Eskridge, W. E. Jr. (1993). A history of same-sex marriage.Symposium on Sexual Orientation and the Law,79, 1423-1432. Retrieved July 7,2013, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1073379 Family. Retrieved July 8, 2013, from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Family Keuzenkamp, S. The Netherlands Institute for Social Research, Youth and Family research group. (2011). Acceptance of homosexuality in the Netherlands 2011. Netherlands: The Netherlands Institute for Social Research. Same-sex marriage. (n.d.). Retrieved July 7, 2013, from http://www.government.nl/issues/family-law/same-sex-marriage