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For the past three years, Jesse Greene, journalist for the New York Magazine, has been focused on the insight of the relationships and lives of people in the L(esbian)G(ay)B(isexual)T(ransgender) community. In the article, From “I do” to “I’m done”, he writes about a gay couple, Kevin Muir and Sam Ritchie, who have been together since 1997. They have been in a relationship much like a normal couple would, they lived with each other, they had shared real estate, credit cards, etc. Jesse describes them as having a happy and healthy relationship after they got married on May 8th, 2004. Going into their marriage, the desire for children became more serious and they began to look into adoption. Jesse describes their journey through the adoption process that involved a large amount of paper work and couples therapy. It was then that they realized they have completely different views on raising a child. “Kevin’s picture was very much like the white picket fence and the house on Long Island,” (Greene) and Sam wanted to raise an “Urban” child. From then, their disagreements escalated to ar...
Within America’s society today, 3.8 percent of the population is gay, lesbian, or bisexual. With only 17 of the 50 states legalizing and recognizing this type of relationship (“History…”), it puts a stronghold on same-sex couples to publicly declare their love with the promise of marriage. Same-sex marriages should be legalized because everyone has equal rights of freedom and liberty.
The constitutional right of gay marriage is a hot topic for debate in the United States. Currently, 37 states have legal gay marriage, while 13 states have banned gay marriage. The two essays, "What’s Wrong with Gay Marriage?" by Katha Pollitt and "Gay "Marriage": Societal Suicide" by Charles Colson provide a compare and contrast view of why gay marriage should be legal or not. Pollitt argues that gay marriage is a constitutional human right and that it should be legal, while Colson believes that gay marriage is sacrilegious act that should not be legal in the United States and that “it provides a backdrop for broken families and increases crime rates” (Colson, pg535). Both authors provide examples to support their thesis. Katha Pollitt provides more relevant data to support that gay marriage is a constitutional right and should be enacted as law in our entire country, she has a true libertarian mindset.
In today’s society, family structure has changed dramatically from the traditional nuclear family to the unconventional, such as single parenting or same sex families. Over the years, many individuals questioned whether or not a parent’s sexual orientation affected their child’s sexual preference. There is significant research that has shown that children with lesbian parents do not differ from children with heterosexual parents. Many individuals stated that it is the value of the parent’s relationship with the child and not the parent’s sexual orientation that affects the child’s development. Contrary to the popular belief, children raised by lesbian parents are not more likely to become gay than children who are raised by heterosexual parents. A parent’s sexual orientation has said to have little importance to children other than the family togetherness. In other words, the relationship of the parent and child is far greater important than the sexual orientation of one’s parents. To be a good parent to a child has nothing to do with one’s sexual preference, but how well one takes care of that child emotionally, physically, financially, and mentally. Before the 20th, century children were often seen as miniature versions of adults so there was little consideration to children development in cognitive and physical development. The interest of child development did not peak until the early 20th century. Conscientious parenting happens not only within traditional nuclear families, but also within homosexual families. Both traditional nuclear and homosexual families can have positive and negative effects on children’s cognitive, psychological or behavioral development due to their rearing.
Jerry Uelsmann, born on June 11th, 1934 in Detroit, Michigan, developed an interest in photography in his early years of high school as he photographed weddings. During the late 50's, Jerry began composing his photographs using multiple negatives. He furthered his career at Rochester institute of technology where he earned his B.F.A. degree. As Uelsmann continued to extend his knowledge, he obtained his M.F.A degree at Indiana University, as well as him M.S. degree. As he was studying at IU, Henry Holmes Smith, an American photographer and IU professor, was a huge influence in Jerry's studies.
Same sex marriage has been a controversial issue since homosexual couples started to petition for their civil and marital rights. Even though homosexuality existed long before our society labeled it, it is still not socially accepted by many groups as well as individuals. As a result, people tend to be biased when reporting facts concerning homosexual marriage. Biases can be hidden in many literature works like books, journals, magazines, and articles. Through these documents writers try to provoke an emotional response from their readers in order to influence their view of a usually highly debated matter. An example of this would be three articles through which the rhetors dissimilarly influence the opinion of their audience by omitting or emphasizing certain facts about the legalization of gay marriage in New York State.
JaeRan, K. (2013, March 5). Report on children adopted by gay and lesbian couples - Stability, Permanency and Adoption Blog. Report on children adopted by gay and lesbian couples - Stability, Permanency and Adoption Blog. Retrieved May 13, 2014, from http://blog.lib.umn.edu/cascw/adoption/2013/03/report-on-children-adopted-by-gay-and-lesbian-couples.html
Shapiro, Joseph P., Gregory Stephen. “Kids with Gay Parents.” U.S News and World Report. 121.11
Second parent adoption is an important tool utilized by same-sex couples in an effort to protect their parental rights in states where same sex marriage is not recognized. Although gay and lesbian paren...
Out of fifty states, only sixteen states allow gay adoptions while people in the other thirty-four states are either denied or sent to court to be determined by a complete stranger with no background information on the couple, whether or not they can take care of a child or not. According to “LGBT Adoption Statistics”, in 2012, 110,000 adopted children live with gay parents. Of the total amount of children in U.S. households, less than one percent lives with same-sex parents. If homosexuals were allowed to adopt, that one percent would rapidly increase. Sexual orientation of parents is not important when it comes to raising children; how the children are being raised and how the parents work together is what is truly important.
Examining lesbian, gay-male, and heterosexual families that had adopted children two years prior to study allowed researchers to discover a correlation between...
Marriage, for years has been argued that the rights to it or strictly only between a man and a women. Both sexes are assumed to marry someone of the opposite sex. What if, however, an individual wanted to marry someone of the same sex? Why is this debate so heavily heated amongst individuals? Is it that religion is a large structure base that those in society are guided by? Or is it that individuals do not understand that marriage is a union between two individuals who are in love? Whatever the case may be, there is always someone who has to argue that homosexual marriage is “wrong.”
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.
Same-sex couples can become parents through means of former relationships, co-parenting, surrogacy, adoption, and donor insemination, although major legal discrimination continues to challenge this process for families. The difficulty faced by many of these couples to have children oftentimes results in even more nurturing environments. This variance in route to parenthood can make same-sex couples that are having children more motivated to be doing so. “Planned families reflect the desire of sexual minorities to have children outside of heteronormative circumstances” (Moore 2013:495). Non-heterosexual parents on average have stronger relationships with their children th...
Why isn’t gay marriage legal yet? How does gay marriage affect people that aren’t gay? Why does it matter to those people? Why can’t gay people have the same rights as straight people? Gay marriage should be legal worldwide. Gay marriage or same-sex marriage is when a man and man or women and a woman get married. Same-sex marriage impacts society in different types of ways, some people are affected by it because they think it is against the bible, others seem to have no impact or problem with same-sex marriage. However for the gay community it affects them, because in some states they are not allowed to marry the one they are in love with it. Also it impacts them because there are groups of people against same-sex marriage and the gay community is constantly being judged by people opposed to same-sex marriage. Seventeen states have legalized same-sex marriage; Thirty-three states banned same-sex marriage. Same-sex marriage provides a more stable environment for children of gay couples. Legalizing same-sex marriage does not affect or harm heterosexual marriages. Marriage is a union of love, not a union of genders.
Adopting children in that environment would lack both mother and father figure in their life. For example, “Children without a father figure would have higher risks of early sexual activity and teen pregnancy; however, children without a mother figure deprive emotional security and unique advice that mothers provide (Pro Con).” The question is raised, should adopted children be reared and educated into a lifestyle that isn’t natural before they are old enough to understand the discrepancies? Young children that grow up in same-sex marriage environment may experience confusion and embarrassment in public surroundings; likewise, young adults and teenagers who have family members or who are personally members of the LGBT community may experience embarrassment and unusual social pressure. Children in a stable family with both mother and father figure would provide the best environment for them to mature and be responsible. Some same-sex family dynamics are from previous heterosexual marriages; therefore, this could affect the relationship between children and the immediate family members. Being part of the LGBT community could influence immediate and extended family on whether they accept or reject their relationship to the