Should Gay Marriage Be Legalized?

By: Erin Carlson Marriage is a term that dates back hundreds of years ago. Marriage is defined in the Merriam-Webster dictionary as the state of being united to a person of the opposite sex as husband or wife in a consensual and contractual relationship recognized by law. Marriage means the process by which two people who love each other make their relationship public, official, and permanent. It is the joining of two people in a bond that putatively lasts until death, but in practice is increasingly cut short by divorce. Although it is proven that gay marriage legalization is correlated with lower divorce rates, while gay marriage bans are correlated with higher divorce rates there are debates on the legalization of gay marriage because it is unconstitutional. Allowing gay couples to wed will further weaken the institution of marriage. Traditional marriage is already threatened with high divorce rates (between 40% and 50%) and with 40.6% of babies being born to unmarried mothers in 2008. Allowing same-sex couples to marry would further weaken the institution. Gay marriage may lead to more children being raised in same-sex households, which is not an optimum environment because children need both a mother and father. Girls who are raised apart from their fathers are reportedly at higher risk for early sexual activity and teenage pregnancy. Children without a mother are deprived of the emotional security and unique advice that mothers provide. (Messerli, Joe.) Marriage should not be extended to same-sex couples because they cannot produce children together. Allowing gay marriage would only further shift the purpose of marriage from producing and raising children to adult gratification. It confuses children about gender roles and expectations of society, and only a man and woman can pro-create. The gay lifestyle is not 1|Page

something to be encouraged, as research shows it leads to a much lower life expectancy, psychological disorders, and other problems. Marriage is a privilege, not a right. Society can choose to endorse certain types of sexual arrangements and give support in the form of benefits to these arrangements. Marriage was created to allow society to support heterosexual couples in procreation and society can choose not to give the same benefits to same-sex couples. If the reason for marriage is strictly reproduction, infertile couples would not be allowed to marry. The number of child adoptions would increase since gay couples cannot pro-create (although some might see an increase in gay adoptions as an argument against same-sex marriages.) Gay marriage would make it easier for same-sex couples to adopt, providing stable homes for children who would otherwise be left in foster care. Legalizing gay marriage will not harm heterosexual marriages or "family values," and society will continue to function successfully. Same-sex marriage is a civil right. The 1967 Supreme Court case Loving v. Virginia confirmed that marriage is "One of the basic civil rights of man," and same-sex marriages should receive the same protections given to interracial marriages by that ruling. The NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), on May 19, 2012, named same-sex marriage as "one of the key civil rights struggles of our time." Denying them is a violation of religious freedom (civil and religious marriages are two separate institutions). (Procon.) The concept of "traditional marriage" being defined as one man and one woman is historically inaccurate. Given the prevalence of modern and ancient examples of family arrangements based on polygamy, communal child-rearing, the use of concubines and mistresses and the commonality of prostitution, heterosexual monogamy can be considered "unnatural in evolutionary terms. Denying same-sex couples the right to marry stigmatizes gay and lesbian 2|Page

families as inferior and sends the message that it is acceptable to discriminate against them. Gay marriages can bring financial gain to state and local governments. Revenue from gay marriage comes from marriage licenses, higher income taxes (the so-called "marriage penalty"), and decreases in costs for state benefit programs. Marriage is redefined as society's attitudes evolve, and the majority of Americans now support gay marriage. Interracial marriage was illegal in many US states until a 1967 Supreme Court decision. Coverture, where a woman's legal rights and economic identity were subsumed by her husband upon marriage, was commonplace in 19th century America. No-fault divorce has changed the institution of marriage since its introduction in California on Jan. 1, 1970. With a May 2013 Gallup poll showing 53% of Americans supporting gay marriage, it is time for the definition of marriage to evolve once again. Therefore, I believe gay marriage should be legalized. I believe it should be legalized because it is a basic civil right to all and everyone deserves their equality whether youre gay, straight, black, white, paralyzed, blind, or deaf. No matter the circumstance, equality is a human right and everyone deserves the privilege to get married to the one they love.

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