To legalize or not to legalize same sex or gay marriage is a hot topic in arguments and debates and has been around for quite some time. Anywhere we go or look, we encounter and find homosexuals. They could also be our siblings, our relatives or our friends. Needless to say, it is a subject that we should know more about especially if it concerns us either directly or indirectly. To help increase your awareness of this gay marriage legalization debate, below are some of the points presented by its supporters and detractors.
According to the supporters, the legalization of gay marriage offers the following benefits:
Exercise Of Civil Rights
Marriage is a civil right that is not now and has never been dependent upon any one religion or even religion in general for its justification, existence, or perpetuation.
Marriage is a civil right that should be exercised by any member of the society. Denying homosexuals of this right means violating their freedom. If two men or two women want to get married to each other, the community, along with the government, should help them in ensuring the marriage and thrive in it instead of opposing it. Religion, which is often contradicting the legalization of such a marriage, has no relevant influence or contribution to it. Furthermore, the government should make laws not according to what a religion dictates it to do but according to what its citizens need.
Opposition To Discrimination
Denying same-sex couples the right to marry stigmatizes gay and lesbian families as inferior and sends the message that it is acceptable to discriminate against them.
We often react negatively to any form of discrimination such as slavery and racial prejudices because we believe them to be unjust and unfair. Yet these people who are seriously against discrimination may be the same people who are against denial of homosexual marriage. Some individuals even say that it is not the gays or the lesbians they are opposing but the marriage itself. However, what they are not realizing is that when they oppose the marriage, they also deny the gay people their rights. Needless to say, that is a form of unfairness to these people. They are not second class in society. They are like everyone else who wants to live freely and love freely. Denying them to marry one another is similar to denying marriage to, say, black couples.
Support For A Better Society
Agreeing to same sex marriage will encourage better acceptance of gay couples in the society. It will lift the stigma that has long been burdening our homosexual brethren. It will help build a more accepting and inclusive society.
Advocate Adoption
Earlier this month, when President Obama announced his support for same sex marriage days after North Carolina voted to ban it, he changed the conversation considerably by arguing that concern for children is a reason to support, rather than oppose, gay marriage.
Couples of the same sex will certainly not be able to pro-create but this does not mean they will put aside having children in the family. In fact, many gay couples choose to adopt and take care of a child or children as if they were their own. These days, there is a high increase in the number of children who have no parents or families and who are left in orphanages or on the streets. Allowing gay marriage will give these less fortunate children much higher chances to have loving parents of their own. Because the parents are gay does not mean that they cannot be good in their roles as parents. Generally, homosexuals have more motivation, more commitment, more thoughtfulness and more love to give as parents to the children they have adopted.
Some Quotes To Make You Laugh
Marriage is a circus of three rings; the engagement ring, the wedding ring and the suffe ring.
A man is successful as a husband if he manages to earn more money than what his wife could spend. A woman is successful as a wife if she can find such a husband for herself.
There is one thing you can be sure of when you see a man opening his car’s door for his wife. Either his car is new or his wife.
It is always the woman who has the last word in any argument. Any word a man speaks of after this is the start of another argument.
From the side of the Antis, here are some of what they say:
Support Of Something Wicked
If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable.
Those that oppose gay marriage legalization are mostly followers of some religion that considers homosexuality a great sin. To them, homosexuality is unacceptable in the eyes of their god and man. To agree with these people’s marriage means supporting something evil, thus, making its supporters evil as well. In the United States, it is said that the legal system was developed from the laws written in the Bible. Legalizing gay marriage, therefore, is tantamount to breaking the holy laws.
Abate The Institution Of Marriage
Allowing the union of homosexual couples could weaken the definition of marriage. It will result to increased numbers of non-serious marriages like those who merely want to exempt themselves from tax obligations. Marriage is sacred and should not be considered for any other reasons.
Confuse Children’s Values
Those who oppose gay marriage often argue that having gay parents is hard on children.
Traditional family values involve the role of women as mothers and the role of men as fathers. If children are brought up by homosexual parents, their awareness of gender roles will greatly change. For many years, adults and children are accustomed to such family values that will intensely degrade with the legalization of homosexual union. The family is the basic building block of society. If the family is weakened because of this, it will result to the crumbling of society.
Compromised Health And Wellbeing
The lifestyle of homosexuals must not be encouraged further by allowing them to marry. Based on numerous researches, this kind of lifestyle can reduce life expectancy of the person concerned. It can also result to psychological disorder and other related issues.