Should Gay Marriage be Legal Nationwide?

Who is the government to decide the parameters for marriage? True love between two consenting adults same sex or heterosexual should be treated equally. In order for our society to grow in a positive direction, we need to truly accept our american  anti-discrimination laws. These laws state that people must be dealt with on an equal basis regardless  sex,age,race,ethnicity,nationality,disability,mental,sexual orientation, gender, gender identity/ expression/dysphoria, sex characteristics, religious, creed, or individual political opinions. I feel as a society these laws are in place to ensure freedoms and equal rights for everyone. The united states needs to acknowledge gay marriage regardless of their personal religious beliefs to ensure equality and prosperity for everyone.

Gay couples should not be discriminated against; they should be afforded the same benefits as everyone else. Married couples have 1,138 benefits, rights, and protections that same sex couples don’t get(NRA). Without the rights of being married they cannot financially aide one another, have equal health benefits,  and advocate for their partner if they are ill or die. Hospitals cannot allow gay partners to receive medical information about their condition without a blood relative  present. Allowing this right to be granted gives them validation of their marriage by letting them make medical decisions on behalf of their spouses. They also have access to protections if the relationship ends which means child custody, spousal or child support and division of property. Dennis Rainey and Bob Lepine are two professors at a Christian College stated their ideas of why they oppose gay people to have the rights of marriage. “ The purpose for marriage is to produce children.  In Genesis 1:28 when God commands Adam and Eve, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth…” The most obvious aspect of this command is that God designed male and female to join physically and reproduce children. Procreation is an integral part of God’s design for marriage. Yes, God has stated about just male and female and we respect what you believe, but be open minded to the fact that our generation has modernized and new things are happening. We can’t just hide gay marriage and shove it back into the closet. We need to give these people their rights that they deserve. Even if homosexual couples cannot procreate, they can beneficially help in other ways with children.

Adoption rates would soar if we made gay marriage legal nationwide. Most adoption agencies discriminate against gay couples and make it extremely  difficult for them to adopt children because they only release children to married couples. If it were legal they would have to grant the rights to homosexual  married couples which gives many children a chance to be in a loving home. Many people oppose this because they believe children need a man and woman in their life. Lauren Ellis, who has a bachelor in psychology, has studied on this and states, “Girls who are raised apart from their fathers are reportedly at higher risk for early sexual tension and teenage pregnancy. ‘ Children without a mother are deprived of the emotional security and unique advice that mothers provide.’” . On the contrary, Stephanie Pappas who has studied and majored in child development refutes with saying that children who have been raised with same sex parents are actually more open minded, sympathetic and confident than heterosexual raised children. “ They felt like they were free to pursue a wide range of interests, nobody was telling them, ‘ Oh, you can’t do that, that’s a boy thing or that’s a girl thing,’”Children raised by homosexual parents are more accepting of others and that is what will raise a better society in the future.

Legalizing gay marriage will eventually create a social norm in the future. It will give gay people the respect and acceptance of their lifestyles. They will slowly be accepted into communities and people will view them less like they are “different” and more like an equal. This goes along with   diminishing a lot of youth suicide because showing young gay people that they are accepted and respected is a huge step. Stephanie Pappas, who has a Bachelor of Arts in psychology, says that lots of children commit suicide due to bullying for his/her sexual orientation. Making marriage legal will show teens homosexuality is accepted and that being gay is not a disability, so they don’t ever feel the need to take their own lives just because they are gay. Others think legalizing gay marriage will create a “slippery slope” in society and give people the rights to do other things like having polygamous and incestuous relationships(Ellis). The massive amounts of homosexual couples who have been denied their right for centuries are the people we are worrying about. Polygamy and incest problems have existed before and are random minority cases of depravity.The percentage of people who are gay and want to get married is higher and more important than the small minority that want to do otherwise.

If gay marriage were to be legalized  it can bring financial gain to federal, state and local governments which can help boost the economy dramatically. Government revenue from marriage comes from marriage licenses, higher income taxes and is some cases decreases in cost for state benefit programs.In 2012 The New York Mayor Micheal Bloomberg announced that gay marriage has contributed $ 259 million to the ciy’s economy since the practice became legal in 2011. Gay marriage could not only be beneficial for them, but for you also! Peter S. Sprigg would have to disagree, He is a Senior Fellow for Policy Studies at the Family Research Council,and said that if gay marriage were legalized, “taxpayers, consumers, and businesses would be forced to subsidize homosexual relationships.” People do not want their tax dollars used to support something they think is wrong. Marriage provides both physical and psychological health benefit, money issues isn’t a good argument for not legalizing gay marriage. It is more of a human rights issue not something that has to do with money.

In order for our nation to come together we need to accept everyone as an equal. We are all humans here just trying to spread love and positivity. Marriage is a civil right and we are one step away from everyone having equality nationwide. The government shouldn’t get to decide what marriage is and who gets the privilege of being able to marry. Humans should be able to express themselves in whatever way they choose, it doesn’t matter about their sexual orientation.

Works Cited

Freedom to Marry, “Marriage 101,” http://www.freedomtomarry.org (accessed Sep. 15, 2010)

“Gay Marriage – ProCon.org.” ProConorg Headlines. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Nov. 2016

 

Stephanie Pappas.”Why Gay Parents May Be the Best Parents.” LiveScience. TechMedia Network, n.d. Web. 22

Nov. 2016.

“Why We Oppose Same-Sex Marriage.” Why We Oppose Same-Sex Marriage. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Nov. 2016.

Peter Sprigg, “The Top Ten Harms of Same-Sex Marriage,” Family Research Council website (accessed Dec. 16, 2014)