Essay on Same Sex Marraiges In The United States

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Trip To The Sex Shops
On Saturday November 10, 2001, I met with group nine in Dana Library, on the Rutgers Newark Campus, in order to go to the city for the Urban Sexuality Research Project. We sat at one of the tables looking at the map and tried to plan our day in the most productive fashion. When we finished we starte

Birth Control--Abstinence
Reminiscing about my high school days I can remember the pressure there was to have sex. Within the male high school community, having sex was a “right of passage”. As we all know this attitude was very wrong. There are many issues that affect young people these days. One of these one in

Same-Sex Marriages In the United States

How do most couples show the world that they are in a loving, devoted, committed relationship? How does one express that they want to spend the rest of their life with one particular person? This is normally done through a marriage, celebrated by a wedding, certified by a marriage license. Homosexuals are human; therefore they are capable of loving another person just as any heterosexual human. Yet, homosexuals are unable to obtain a marriage license. This needs to be changed.

Currently in the United States there is much legal and cultural activity surrounding the possibility of the legalization of "gay marriage". As of December 1995, a law case underway in Hawaii may lay the ground for legal recognition of same-sex unions. Such legal moves, as well as the efforts by lesbian and gay couples to be recognized as such, face denunciation from some conservative voices who assert that by nature and divine will only relationships between men and women can be considered "natural". And, to be honest, there is also an unease expressed by some lesbian and gay activists who, recalling the critique of patriarchy made by 1970's feminism, see "marriage" as an irretrievably heterosexual institution.

Same-sex marriages should be legal everywhere in the United States of America. According to the Constitution, marriage is a civil right that all Americans are born with. Our country has decided by passing the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in 1996 that two people of the same gender cannot get married. By taking away this basic civil right, America has defied what our Founding Fathers based our country one, freedom. Homosexuals are allowed to speak freely, to bear arms, to have privacy, to be protected. What about to marry? It is wrong to base a person’s civil rights on sexuality. Along with the basic civil right to marry, there are other rights that the Defense of Marriage Act denies homosexuals. Rights that married people take for granted, such as the ability to visit a sick or injured spouse in the hospital, are denied to gay and lesbian people. Because of the law, hospitals and other institutions do not have to respect the basic human rights of gay and lesbian couples. Likewise, if one partner in a married couple is seriously ill and incapacitated, the other spouse should be able to make decisions regarding their care and guardianship. This basic right of guardianship is denied to gay and lesbian couples, because, again, their committed relationships are not recognized under the law. If one partner is incapacitated, the other partner is not given the right to make basic health care decisions. If homosexual couples had legal partnerships, there would not be any cases of confusion over guardianship or visitation in places like hospitals.

According to the American Civil Liberties Union, many of the benefits of marriage that homosexuals are denied include: government benefits like Social Security and Medicare; hospital visitation rights; special rates and exemptions on tax returns; joint child custody; joint insurance policies; automatic inheritance in the absence of a will; making medical decisions on a partner's behalf; and choosing a final resting place for a deceased partner. While none of these are reasons to get married, they are all benefits and perks that homosexuals should not be denied simply because of their choice of a partner. They are rights that homosexuals are entitled to and deserve, and are rights that they would be able to benefit from if same-sex marriages were legalized. It is predicted that there would be a large income tax revenue, and that should make most tax-paying citizens happy. In most same-sex couples, both people hold jobs so they are both earners. A married couple with two earners normally has a high income tax, meaning more money for the government. Therefore, if same-sex marriages are allowed, the tax revenue will increase due to more marriages consisting of two earners. It is clear to see that they deserve these rights as much as heterosexual couples do, and that their choice of partner should not affect these basic rights.

In the internet source: www.lambdalegal.org, the article states, “Same-sex couples want to get married for the same variety of reasons as any other couple: they seek the security and protection that come from a legal union both for themselves and for any children they may have; they want the recognition from family, friends and the outside world that comes with a marriage; and they seek the structure and support for their emotional and economic bonds that a marriage provides. All gay people, whether in a relationship today or not, whether they would choose marriage or not, deserve to have the same choice that all heterosexuals have.” That is true. Same-sex couples are just like any other couple; they have feelings and they want the rights that any U.S. citizen should have. They look for the structure and support that marriage has emotionally and economically – the things that heterosexual couples may take for granted. Homosexuals are normal people like the heterosexuals. They have feelings and their sexual orientation of attracting the same sex is innate. They have no control over this destiny. Counseling, therapy or the environment can’t change this so since we can’t convert this then why don’t we accept this and give those homosexuals all the respects and rights that they deserve like any other heterosexuals. We have to understand that they are people to and even though we might not agree with the way they live their lives, we must respect them, the same way that they show respect to us. Allowing all families access to marriage, if they believe the structures and protections of marriage are appropriate for them, promotes stability for communities overall. Same-sex couples build their lives together like other couples, working hard at their jobs, volunteering in their neighborhoods, and valuing the responsibilities and love that their family commitments provide to them and to the...

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