The recent Olympic games held in Sochi has highlighted the injustices carried out against gay youth in Russia. In fact, many companies have come forth in their advertising to protest this, such as Google, Oreos, and Absolut Vodka. America seemed to be united against Russia's brutal treatment of homosexuals. And yet, it remains a hypocritical display, as America itself still doesn't allow homosexuals rights. One of these most prominent examples is the banning of gay marriage in a majority of states. This is wrong on many levels, but most primarily because the arguments against legalizing gay marriage are close-minded and foundationless. There are many reasons to legalize gay marriage. Firstly, to do otherwise would be unconstitutional. There would also be economic gain from the legalization of homosexual marriage. Plus, the popular claim that legalizing it would 'ruin the foundation of traditional marriage' is completely unfounded and incorrect.
As stated previously, banning gay marriage is completely unconstitutional. Often, when the concept of unconstitutionality is brought up, it is brought up on the side of those who are against gay marriage. They try to bring up the 'Freedom of Belief'. This idea that religion should even impact the legalization process is inane. As Nancy Cott, PhD, testified during Perry v. Schwarzenegger, "Civil law has always been supreme in defining and regulating marriage." [1] The act of banning gay marriage in itself is unconstitutional because homosexual marriage is "Unconstitutional under both the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses.", as written by US District Judge Vaughn Walker on August 4, 2010, on the issue of Prop. 8 in California. In fact, the US Supreme Court ruled even way back in ...
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Works Cited
[1 & 2]Vaughn Walker, JD, Opinion, Perry v. Schwarzenneger, www.uscourts.gov, Aug. 4, 2010
[3]Kathryn Perry, "The Cost of Gay Marraige - In Dollars and Cents," Christian Science Monitor, May 27, 2009
[4]William C. Thompson, Jr., "Love Counts: The Economic Benefits of Marriage Equality for New York" , www.comptroller.nyc.gov, June 2007
[5]J. Frank Vespa-Papaleo, et al., "The Legal, Medical, Economic & Social Consequences of New Jersey's Civil Union Law" , www.nj.gov, Dec. 10, 2008
[6]Ross Douthat, "The Marriage Ideal," www.nytimes.com, Aug. 8, 2010
[7]Laura Langbein and Mark A. Yost, Jr., "Same-Sex Marriage and Negative Externalities," Social Science Quarterly, June 2009
[8]American Anthropological Association, "Statement on Marriage and the Family," www.aaanet.org, Feb. 26, 2004
Wolf, Richard. “Timeline: Same-Sex marriage through the years.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 26 June 2015,
Lipp, Murray. "7 Ways the U.S.A. Benefits From the Legalization of Gay Marriage." The Huffington
Kathryn Perry, "The Cost of Gay Marriage - In Dollars and Cents," Christian Science Monitor, May 27, 2009
Newton, D. E. (2010). Same-sex Marriage : A Reference Handbook. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood Publishing Group.
The issue of gay marriage needs little introduction as it is one of the most widely contended and discussed topics in the United States of America. While the issue is relatively recent one has to question why this is even an issue to begin with. The Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the Constitution guarantees a right to same-sex marriage. Arguments come from both religious groups, as well as secular focused sources. Reasoning against gay marriage ranges from religious immorality, to the idea that giving gays the right to marry would support minoritarianism (giving minority special privileges and advantages in either a legislative or societal capacity). There are countless arguments besides those mentioned, few of which have any substantial grounds to stand on. Gay marriage causes no political or communal grief, except for those who strongly oppose it now. Even for those people gay people exist either way. Whether they are married or not will not change that and their lives will not be dramatically changed from it. Gay marriage has no valid reason to be outlawed and there are plenty of reasons to allow it.
Stoddard, T, Fein, B, (Jan. 1990) Gay Marriage, Personal relationships, Marriage, Legislation, Homosexuality, American Bar Association, (Pages 42, 42)
Allowing same-sex marriages provides socio-economic equalization of benefits that traditional couples are granted when they enter into the civil union of marriage. The socio-economic rights of pension benefits, hospital visitation, child support, affordable housing etc... are given freely, and are expected when a couple is married. These basic resources for a healthy marriage are typically absent when same-sex marriages or civil unions are in question (Dinno & Whitney, 2013). Currently in the U.S., 17 states plus the District of Columbia allows same-sex couples to marry and four others allow domestic partnerships or civil unions (Same sex marriage map, 2014). The states that the same-sex couples are married in, are typically, the only states where their marriage rights are guaranteed. It is up to the gaining state’s laws whether the marriage is legal and ca...
Wardle, Lynn D. "The Movement To Substitute Generic Adult Intimate "Relationships" For "Marriage”." Marriage and Same-sex Unions: A Debate. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2003. 195. Print.
The United States is known world wide for its civil rights and freedoms. Many Americans are appalled by the idea of same-sex marriages. What?s wrong with the idea of two people who care greatly for one another wanting to spend their lives together? The gay community is misunderstood because many straights are not willing to listen. These individuals would rather just be closed-minded in this situation and reticent to really think about what this means to the gay community and the country. Same sex couples are not asking for any special rights; they are just asking to be treated equal with opposite sex couples. The explanations given by many Americans against gay marriages are based on false assumptions and unsubstantiated arguments. However, the real and unspoken reasons many heterosexuals have against same-sex marriages are based on religious beliefs.
... Top Ten Harms of Same-sex Marriage” by Peter Sprigg “religious freedom not only applies to formal houses of worship of worship, but at home, in their neighborhoods, and in the workplace”(2). With same-sex marriage being legalized there is no more religious freedom. Catholic schools that are completely against welcoming same-sex couples in their schools will no longer have a choice. Churches where same-sex couples are not welcome, no longer have a choice but to welcome them. Employers that are religiously against same-sex couples can no longer discriminate them for their sexual orientation but instead for their work ethics. Same-sex marriage being legalized is unconstitutional, it completely conflicts with the first amendment which gives people the right to exercise their religion freely. But with same-sex marriage being legalize their religious freedom is limited.
To begin with, gay marriage has been a controversial issue in today 's society. It seems to me that the government finds it difficult to accept same - sex couples into marriage. By the government prohibiting same - sex couples from getting married, they are denying them freedom that every other American has. "Marriage is a unique legal status conferred by and recognized by governments all over the world. It brings with it a host of reciprocal obligations, rights and protections" (National Organization of Women, 2012, p, 1). Currently in Oklahoma City it is illegal for same - sex couples to get married which is unconstitutional due to discrimination. Me being bisexual who has a part in being homosexual, I feel like banning gay marriage is absolutely wrong and against human rights. One thing I don 't understand is why people have the right to choose who marries who? Everyone should worry about themselves then the world would be a better place. No matter how you put it love is love rather it 's a straight, gay, or lesbian couple. It 's genuinely all about the love between one another. Gays have the right just as any straight person, that 's how I look at it .I 'm pretty sure gay couples does not harm this society in any way or form. Gay marriage should certainly be legalized due to our civil rights and plus the constitution gives us liberties and one of the liberties pertain the pursuit of happiness. However, there 's plenty of reasons on why opponents of gays think gay marriage is wrong and these reasons add up to one controversial topic; the bible itself. "So God created man in His own appearance ; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them."—Genesis 1:27 (N K...
"Marriage and Civil Unions, Same-Sex." Encyclopedia of Law and Society: American and Global Perspectives. Ed. David S. Clark. Vol. 2. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2007. 990-993. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 18 Nov. 2013.
According to Joe messerli in”should same sex marriage be legalized” (balancedpolitics.org) denying gay couples the right to marry is a violation of religious freedom. Civil and religious marriages are two separate institutions. The First Amendment in the bill of rights states that “ There shall be no law respecting an establishment of religion. Therefor denying homosexual citizens the right to get married is a violation of the United States Constitution.The reason to involve religion is because most of the negative feedback from gay marriage comes from religious groups. For the reason being passages of the Bible declaring homosexulity a sin and punishment for homosexual acts. According to the bible's old testament “ If there is man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act, they shall surely be put to death. Their blood is upon them.” (Leviticus 20:13) Of course the cycle of anti homosexual passages are repeated throughout the Bible's texts. But our government is not run by religious doctrine so surely no text written in the Bible should be or ever be taken seriously by our government. Joe messerli explains this idea well by saying that just because religions say something about a topic, for example saying the lords name in vein, does not mean that we have to go around punishing the people who curse a-little.(balancedpolitics.org) The separation of church and state is made clear in our constitution and the government needs to abide by our nations foundation
Gay Marriage is now legal in seventeen states. The government of those sates believe that one’s marriage rights are civil rights. However, gay marriage is not a civil right, therefore, it should not be legalized.
Garcia, Monique, and Ray Long. "Lawmakers Affirm Gays' Right to Wed." Chicago Tribune. 06 Nov 2013: 1. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 18 Dec 2013. http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-article-display?id=SMO0798-0-5763&artno=0000356535&type=ART&shfilter=U&key=Same-sex%20marriage&title=Lawmakers%20Affirm%20Gays%27%20Right%20to%20Wed&res=Y&ren=N&gov=N&lnk=N&ic=N#citation