Gay Marriage Should be Legal

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On June 26, 2015, the US Supreme Court ruled that the US Constitution guarantees the right for same-sex couples to marry. Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy stated in the majority opinion: "The court now holds that same-sex couples may exercise the fundamental right to marry. No longer may this liberty be denied to them." Many conservatives are completely against gay marriage and they have stated that they will fight to have the Supreme Court ruling overturned.

People against gay marriages say that it is not natural to be a homosexual. Even by ignoring the biological belief that homosexuals are born with a different sexual orientation, this is still an absurd argument. The world is full of “unnatural” things, but most of the time we just look the other way. Along with the development of civilization came the concept of tolerance.

It was not long ago that interracial marriages were considered taboo in our society. Many people thought those marriages were not “natural”. In fact, interracial marriages were illegal in thirteen states until 1967 (So you wanna know about gay marriage). Today if someone opposes an interracial marriage, the majority of the population would now say that the person is just a racist and needs to mind his own business. So why are gay marriages so different from that scenario?

Even if people are not born gay, why is it anyone’s concern if they chose to live their life that way? A homosexual couple does not inflict physical harm on anyone who happens to see them together. Moreover, when someone is in public, can you tell who is married and who is not, just by looking at them? Why deny them the right to express their commitment to each other through the institution of marriage? If two people are gay and they want to be together, they are going to be together whether other people approve of the relationship or not.

President Bush has been trying to put into effect an amendment to ban gay marriages. If this were to happen, it would violate over 1,100 rights, protections, and benefits guaranteed to the citizens of the United States (Oppose the discriminatory “Federal Anti-Marriage Amendment). The Constitution has been amended seventeen times in the past; however, all of these cases were to PROTECT the rights and civil liberties, not to deny them (Oppose the Discriminatory “Federal Anti-Marriage Amendment”). With th...

... middle of paper ...

...Permission

4. Amendment

a. Bush

b. Violations

c. History of amendments

d. What the amendment involves

5. Pro-family

6. Adoption

a. One parent concept

7. Extremists

a. Religious

b. Homophobes

c. Republicans

1. Benefits

8. History

a. Clinton and the “Defense of Marriage Act”

b. Domestic Partner Law

c. Baker v. State of Vermont

9. Progress

a. Statistics

b. Marriages

10. Closing

“Defense of Marriage Act” ‘Lectric Law Library. 1996. 12/09/04

http://www.lectlaw.com/files/leg23.htm.

“Gay Rights”. Speakout.com 12/09/04 http://speakout.com/activism/gayrights/.

“Hanson”. Room 321 12/16/04

“On the Issues”. On the Issues. 12/09/04

http://www.issues2000.org/George_W__Bush.htm#Gay_Rights.

“Oppose the Discriminatory ‘Federal Anti-Marriage Amendment’”. Human Rights

Campaign. 12/09/04

http://www.hrc.org/Template.cfm?Section=Federal_Constitutional_Marriage_Amendment&CONTENTID=20767&TEMPLATE=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm.

“So You Wanna Know About Gay Marriage”. Soyouwanna.com. 12/09/04

http://soyouwanna.com/site/pros_cons/gaymarriage/gaymarriage.html.

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