Gay Marriage

Gay Marriage in the US About 5 - 7% of all Americans, or at least 15 million people in the US, are gay. In other words, at least one person in our grade. It’s pretty likely it’s even a friend, or someone else you know pretty well, is going to grow up and be homosexual. Maybe not today, or next month, probably not even in the next couple of years but someday, they’ll figure out they’re gay and don’t you want them to be happy? It was only after the Civil War that Afro-Americans were allowed to marry in all areas and it wasn’t until 1967 that the US Supreme Court decided that mixed race couples could marry anywhere in the US. Until recently, same-sex couples couldn’t marry anywhere in the world. It’s about time that homosexuals, or gays, got the right to marry in the United States. Everyone, including gay people, should have equal rights and should be able to spend the rest of their lives with someone they love. In 2001, Holland was the first country to expand the definition of marriage to include same-sex couples. Belgium and Ontario followed in 2003. Some political authorities have special laws that allow gay and lesbian couples to register their committed relationship and gain some benefits but not all the benefits that opposite-sex couples get when they marry. These areas include most of the Scandinavian countries and a few American and Canadian states and provinces. Gay marriage is illegal or banned in all of the US. Gay marriage is working out in so many countries it would probably work out in the US also. If the United States is supposed to be the richest, mightiest country in the world, why can’t they let gay people marry? It wouldn’t affect heterosexual people, also known as straight people or non-gay people and it would make gays very happy. In the words of the Marriage Resolution, by the Marriage Project “Because marriage is a basic human right and an individual personal choice the State should not interfere with same-gender couples who choose to marry and share fully and equally in the rights, responsibilities, and commitment of civil marriage." It shouldn’t be the state’s decision whether gay couples marry or not, the couples should be able to decide for themselves. These people love each other and want to marry. Since when is it wrong to do that? Not letting gay people marry is taking away part of their civil rights. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” That’s what it said in the Declaration of Independence. Everyone is created equal and everyone has equal rights. Not exactly, homosexuals don’t because straight people can marry and gays can’t. It says that those ‘unalienable’ rights include happiness, well gay means happy. If it means happiness, why shouldn’t they be happy? People often make assumptions about gay people. They don’t always wear designer clothes , have pink triangles, or have the gay flag on their shirt. Many people expect gay people to dress a certain way, act a certain way, have a certain job, talk a certain way. Guess what? They don’t. They are just like other people. So maybe they look weird in the gay parade but the gay parade it just like Halloween. Some people are even afraid that a gay person might like them. There are so many stereotypes about gays and hardly any are true. As Chris Rock said in Head of State, “ When I see gay people, I just see normal people.” They are just like anybody else except that they are attracted to a different gender than they’re ‘expected’ to. The problem is that because of that one little fact, they are unable to marry in the United States. The reason the government is against gay marriage is because of religion. It’s not that they dislike gay people. I mean, Cheney’s daughter is lesbian, I’m sure he still loves her. Many people say God doesn’t want homosexuals to marry. One of the things you might hear people say is God created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve. An internet group member said: I believe that marriage should be between one man and one woman. Period. It clearly states in the Bible that homosexuality is wrong. The fact that this is an issue clearly shows how sick the world has gotten." Gay people are just like other people. Not letting them marry is taking away part of their Civil Rights. It shouldn’t even be the government’s decision whether they marry or not. It is working out in so many countries that it would definitely work out in the United States too. Everyone, including gay people, should have equal rights and should be able to spend the rest of their lives with someone they love.