Many individuals’ idea of the conventional marriage was viewed simply to be a sacred union shared between a male and a female. People who oppose gay marriage believe gay marriage legalization has no positive actions on economic issues. To prove others wrong, one example is that gay marriage made an economic impact in New Jersey that raised $248 million dollars in 3 years by creating about 800 new jobs and added $19 million dollars to government funding. (Vespa-Papaleo) “The Comptroller for New York City found that legalizing gay marriage would bring $142 million to the city’s economy and $184 million to the state’s economy over three years.” (Thompson) Money for a legal marriage license require money that creates a result of higher tax incomes and decreases state benefits program costs. (Perry) Every individual should be equal and given the same rights and shouldn’t be restricted from right to marry anyone they choose and so, same sex marriage should be legalized.
Gay marriage allows couples wanting children to adopt easier allowing children in need of stable homes a proper family to care for them. As stated in Pediatrics, studies revealed that children of lesbian moms were rated higher than children with heterosexual parents in social and academic competence and had fewer social problems. (Gartrell) This indicates homosexual couples are capable of raising children even if they are not their own flesh and blood. Ezra Klein had stated his opinion as, “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) Instead of letting children live their whole lives in foster care waiting for heterosexual parents to a...
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...et al., "The Legal, Medical, Economic & Social Consequences of New Jersey's Civil Union Law" , www.nj.gov, Dec. 10, 2008
Nanette Gartrell, MD, and Henny Bos, PhD, "US National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study: Psychological Adjustment of 17-Year-Old Adolescents," Pediatrics, July 7, 2010
Ezra Klein, "Sorry, Justice Scalia: There’s No Evidence That Gay Parents Aren’t Great Parents," WashingtonPost.com, Mar. 27, 2013
Kathryn Perry, "The Cost of Gay Marriage - In Dollars and Cents," Christian Science Monitor, May 27, 2009
Bruce Peterson, JD, Majority Opinion, “Baker v. Nelson,” www.marriagelawfoundation.org, Oct. 15, 1971
Nate Silver, "Divorce Rates Higher in States with Gay Marriage Bans," www.fivethirtyeight.com, Jan. 12, 2010
William C. Thompson, Jr., "Love Counts: The Economic Benefits of Marriage Equality for New York", www.comptroller.nyc.gov, June 2007
Mercer, L. R. & Berger, R. M. (1989). Social service needs of lesbian and gay adolescents. Adolescent Sexuality: New Challenges for Social Workers. Haworth Press.
Bos, H. M., Van Balen, F., & Van den Boom, D. C. (2007). Child adjustment and parenting in planned lesbian-parent families. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 77, 38-48. doi:
Tori, DeAngelis. "New data on Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Mental Health." www.apa.org/monitor/feb02/newdata.aspx . N.p., 12 february 2002. Web. 9 Apr 2014.
Washington Post. Survey of 1,002 Adults Concerning Gay Marriage. New York: 27 Feb.-2 Mar. 2014. Web. 9 Mar. 2014.
Nagourney, Adam. "Court Strikes Down Ban on Gay Marriage in California." New York Times. N.p., 7 Feb. 2012. Web.
(357) Especially considering the changes made for the gay and lesbian community involvement in legalized marriage since this article was written in the July 5, 2004 issue of the Nation. This goes to prove to me that Moody’s prediction was accurate in assuming great changes were right around the corner in the development of marriage. I am further convinced of the advancement of homosexual marriage and believe that in the very near future there will be marriage equality for all. Allowing homosexuals the same rights as heterosexuals will benefit everyone simply by creating us all once again equal. This will create protection for all family units with
Furthermore, the point that marriages play an important role in reproduction is also debatable. As mentioned above, high divorce rates cannot possibly be a healthy environment for a child to grow up in. Additionally, children will grow up with a lack in family values and continue this trend (high divorce rates) during their adult lives. Moreover, there are so many orphans around the world, that couples should consider adopting as an alternative to having a baby. Therefore, if a gay family would want to make a family out of their marriage adoption could be the answer.
In recent years, same-sex relationships have become more encompassing in US society. State legislation is changing such as accepting gay marriages, enforcing anti-discrimination laws, and legal gay adoptions; the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community is becoming public. Gay-headed families, like heterosexuals, are diverse and varying in different forms. Whether a created family is from previous heterosexual relationships, artificial insemination, or adoption, it deserves the same legal rights heterosexual families enjoy. Full adoption rights needs to be legalized in all states to provide a stable family life for children because sexual orientation does not determine parenting skills, children placed with homosexual parents have better well-being than those in foster care, and there are thousands of children waiting for good homes.
The Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System Report there were about 423,773 children in foster care in the United States only a couple of years ago (Watson). Each foster child in the system should have a chance at adoption so to deny gay couples the right to adopt is not only heartbreaking for both the child and the gay couple but also unconstitutional. A requirement of being a parent shouldn’t focus on a person’s sexual orientation; it’s not an aspect that should matter. The main things to look for when evaluating a person’s worth as a parent should be whether the person is caring, devoted, and stable. An example is Jon Campbell and Danny Stewart, found a recently-born baby on a subway and adopted the baby, thinking that it might be their only chance in adopting a child. Another example of how much gay couples value having children is shown by Bircher, a 44-year-old hair salon owner, when he said, "Our prisons are full of people who were in foster care, and those people were in, quote unquote, straight family homes, if I can provide a loving, stable home for my little boy, that 's the goal" (Watson). These articles show how much gay couples value having children and it shows that they could great parents, despite irrational arguments against them
There is very little research that has been done in the past on the mental health of LGBT individuals. In 1997 the federal center for Mental Health Services called for information to be compiled on the topic (Lucksted 3). Most of the information came from small publications, grass root information and self-reporting and even this information was incomplete because of the lesser reporting on people of the transgender and bisexual communities. This older report shows what the state of affairs was in ...
Redlingshafer, JoEllen. "The LGBT Movement Must Look Past Gay Marriage." Policymic. Policymic, 2013. Web. 23 Sept. 2013.
Homosexuality is becoming more and more accepted and integrated into today’s society, however, when it comes to homosexuals establishing families, a problem is posed. In most states, homosexuals can adopt children like any other married or single adult. There are many arguments to this controversial topic; some people believe that it should be legal nationally, while others would prefer that is was banned everywhere, or at least in their individual states. There are logical reasons to allow gays to adopt children, but for some, these reasons are not enough. The main issue really is, what is in the best interest of the child? This type of problem isn’t really one with causes, effects, and solutions, but one with pros and cons. Like any other adoption situation, a parent prove themselves to be responsible and capable enough to raise a child on their own, or with a spouse.
Since the 1970s, studies on the effect of same-sex parenting on children have been conducted in the United States. Sociological debates have occurred from the idea of allowing same-sex couples to parent. Some groups feel that allowing this would undermine the traditional ideology of marriage and skew the perception of gender roles for their children. Sociologists continue to produce empirical research that studies samples of the approximately 125,000 same-sex couples raising nearly 220,000 children and comparing their roles as parents and the adult personalities of their children to children raised by heterosexual couples. Current scientific research comparing the outcomes of children raised by gay or lesbian parents with children of heterosexual parents consistently shows that same-sex parents are just as capable of raising “psychologically healthy and well-adjusted” children as heterosexual parents. Research comparing children raised by same-sex couples and heterosexual couples found no differences in the adjustment or mental health of these children as adults.
Stoddard, T, Fein, B, (Jan. 1990) Gay Marriage, Personal relationships, Marriage, Legislation, Homosexuality, American Bar Association, (Pages 42, 42)
In conclusion I argue that banning same-sex marriage is discriminatory. It is discriminatory because it denies homosexuals the many benefits received by heterosexual couples. The right to marriage in the United States has little to do with the religious and spiritual meaning of marriage. It has a lot to do with social justice, extending a civil right to a minority group. This is why I argue for same-sex marriage. The freedom to marry regardless of gender preference should be allowed.