Gay Marriage Persuasive Essay

As an American citizen, a person should be entitled to marry whoever they choose, regardless of gender or sexual preference. Gay marriage is something that some people consider to be taboo while other people are very supportive of it; I am one of the latter. The ability to marry someone is a basic human right and it should not be taken away from someone because they love a person of the same gender. One of the main reasons that gay marriage is illegal in the United States is because of what the Bible says about it, regardless of the fact that the first Amendment of the US Constitution says that there is to be a separation between church and state. Approximately three point eight percent of the United States population is made up of people …show more content…

Many teenagers who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or trans are often bullied by their peers. In 2013 a National School Climate Survey showed that seventy-one point four percent of LGBT students were called gay or other derogatory terms often, fifty-four point six percent also heard comments about not being masculine or feminine enough. Almost fifty-two percent of students reported even hearing homophobic statements from teachers or other school workers. Sixteen point five percent of students were also physically assaulted by other students because of their sexuality. Because of these events, LGBT students were three times more likely to miss school than non-LGBT students, had a lower GPA, and had higher levels of depression. A girl I knew in high school named Donna identified as bisexual and I often saw her being pushed around in the halls and called countless terrible names. This soon lead to her feeling bad about herself, becoming depressed, and even self-harming by cutting and burning her arms. Donna also had to drop out of school and start being homeschooled because of the amount of bullying she encountered on a daily basis. The Trevor Project is a LGBT supportive organization that focuses on bringing awareness to homosexuality in young people, works to provide support for youths that are questioning their sexuality or are depressed because of the effects of bullying, and to prevent suicide among these youths. The Trevor Project explains that LGBT youths are four times more likely to attempt suicide than straight youths of the same age. This organization also tells us that young people who come out to their families and are rejected by them are eight times more likely to attempt suicide than people who were not pushed away by their families. These numbers are not only alarming,