argumentative essay about gay marriage

Same Sex Marriage Argumentative Essay, with Outline

Published by gudwriter on January 4, 2021 January 4, 2021

Example 1: Gay Marriages Argumentative Essay Outline

Introduction.

Same-sex marriage should be legal because it is a fundamental human right. To have experts write for you a quality paper on same sex marriage, seek help from a trusted academic writing service where you can buy research proposals online with ease and one you can be sure of getting the best possible assistance available

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Paragraph 1:

Same-sex marriage provides legal rights protection to same sex couples on such matters as taxes, finances, and health care.

• It gives them the right to become heirs to their spouses and enjoy tax breaks just like heterosexual married couples.
• It makes it possible for them to purchase properties together, open joint accounts, and sign documents together as couples.

Paragraph 2:

Same sex marriage allows two people in love to happily live together.

• Homosexuals deserve to be in love just like heterosexuals.
• The definition of marriage does not suggest that it should only be an exclusive union between two people of opposite sexes.

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Paragraph 3:

Same sex marriage gives homosexual couples the right to start families.

• Gay and lesbian partners should be allowed to start families and have their own children.
• A family should ideally have parents and children.
• It is not necessary that the parents be a male and female.  

Paragraph 4:

Same sex marriage does not harm the institution of marriage and is potentially more stable.

• Legalization of civil unions or gay marriages does not  negatively impact abortion rates, divorce, or marriage.
• Heterosexual marriages have a slightly higher dissolution rate on average than opposite sex marriages.

Paragraph 5:

Opponents of same sex marriage may argue that it is important for children to have a father and mother for a balanced upbringing.

• They hold that homosexual couples only have one gender influence on children.
• They forget that that children under the parental care of same sex couples get to mingle with both male and female genders in various social places.

Paragraph 6:

Opponents may also argue that same-sex marriages reduce sanctity of marriage.

• To them, marriage is a religious and traditional commitment and ceremony.
• Unfortunately, such arguments treat marriage as a man-wife union only.
• They fail to recognize that there are people who do not ascribe to any tradition(s) or religions.
• Same sex marriage is a human right that should be enjoyed just like traditional heterosexual marriages.
• It protects the legal rights of lesbian and gay couples and allows them to actualize their love in matrimony.
• It enables them to exercise their right to start families and bring up children.
• It is only fair that all governments consider legalizing same sex marriages.

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Argumentative Essay on Same Sex Marriage

For many years now, same-sex marriage has been a controversial topic. While some countries have legalized the practice, others still consider it not right and treat it as illegal. Same-sex marriage is defined as a marriage or union between two people of the same sex, such as a man and a man. Some countries have broadened their perspective on this issue even though for many years, it has never been legally acknowledged, with some societies even considering it a taboo. The United Kingdom, Spain, France, Argentina, the Netherlands, and recently the United States are some of the countries that have legalized it (Winter, Forest & Senac, 2017). Irrespective of any arguments, same-sex marriage should be legal because it is a fundamental human right.

First, same-sex marriage, if recognized by society, provides legal rights protection to same sex couples on such matters as taxes, finances, and health care. If people live together in a homosexual relationship without being legally married, they do not enjoy the security to protect what they have worked for and saved together. In case one of them dies, the surviving partner would have no right over the property under the deceased’s name even if they both funded its acquisition (Winter, Forest & Senac, 2017). Legalizing same-sex unions would cushion homosexual partners from such unfortunate situations. They would have the right to become heirs to their spouses and enjoy tax breaks just like heterosexual married couples. Legalization would also make it possible for them to purchase properties together, open joint accounts, and sign documents together as couples.

Same sex marriage also allows two people in love to become one in a matrimonial union and live happily together. Denying homosexual couples the right to marry is thus denying them the right to be in love just like heterosexuals do. Moreover, the definition of marriage does not suggest that it should only be an exclusive union between two people of opposite sexes. According to Gerstmann (2017), marriage is a formally or legally recognized union between two people in a personal relationship. As per this definition, people should be allowed to marry once they are in love with each other irrespective of their genders. Reducing marriage to a union between a man and woman is thus a direct infringement into the rights of homosexuals.

Additionally, gay marriages give homosexual couples the right to start families. Just like heterosexual couples, gay and lesbian partners should be allowed to start families and have their own children. Essentially, a family should ideally have parents and children and it is not necessary that the parents be a male and female. Same sex partners can easily adopt and bring up children if their marriage is legalized and recognized by the society in which they live (Gerstmann, 2017). As one would concur, even some heterosexual couples are not able to sire their own children and resort to adopting one or even more. This is a right that should be extended to same sex couples too given that they may not be able to give birth on their own.

Further, same sex marriage does no harm whatsoever to the institution of marriage, and is potentially more stable. According to a 2009 study, legalization of civil unions or gay marriages does not in any way negatively impact abortion rates, divorce, or marriage (Langbein & Yost, 2009). This makes it quite uncalled for to argue against or prohibit gay marriages. In yet another study, only 1.1 percent of legally married gay couples end their relationships as compared to the 2 percent annual divorce rate among opposite-sex couples (Badgett & Herman, 2011). This implies that heterosexual marriages have a slightly higher dissolution rate on average than opposite sex marriages. It could then be argued that gay marriages are more stable than traditional man-woman marriages. The two types of marriages should thus be given equal chance because neither affects the other negatively. They also have more or less equal chances of succeeding if legally recognized and accepted.

Opponents of same sex marriage may argue that it is important for children to have a father and a mother. They may say that for children to have a good balance in their upbringing, they should be influenced by a father and a mother in their developmental years. Such arguments hold that homosexual couples only have one gender influence over the lives of children and that this is less fulfilling (Badgett, 2009). However, the arguments fail to recognize that children under the parental care of same sex couples get to mingle with both male and female genders in various social places. At school, the children get to be cared for and mentored by both male and female teachers who more or less serve almost the same role as parents.

Those who are opposed to same sex unions may also argue that such marriages reduce sanctity of marriage. To them, marriage is a religious and traditional commitment and ceremony that is held very sacred by people. They contend that there is need to do everything possible to preserve marriage because as an institution, it has been degrading slowly over time. Their concern is that traditional marriages are being devalued by same sex marriages which are swaying people away from being married and instead choosing to live with same sex partners (Nagle, 2010). It is clear here that such arguments treat marriage as a man-woman union only and are thus not cognizant of the true meaning of marriage. Moreover, they fail to recognize that traditions and religions should not be used against same sex couples because there are people who do not ascribe to any tradition(s) or religions.

Same sex marriage is a human right that should be enjoyed just like traditional heterosexual marriages. It protects the legal rights of lesbian and gay couples and allows them the well-deserved opportunity of actualizing their love in matrimony. In addition, it enables them to exercise their right to start families and bring up children. Arguments made against this form of marriage, such as that it undermines traditional marriages, are based on opinions and not facts. Moreover, it is not important for a child to have a father and a mother because there are other places in which they actively interact with people of different sexes. As such, it is only fair that all governments consider legalizing gay marriages.

Badgett, M. V., & Herman, J. L. (2011).  Patterns of relationship recognition by same-sex couples in the United States [PDF]. The Williams Institute. Retrieved from https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/Marriage-Dissolution-FINAL.pdf .

Badgett, M. V. (2009). When gay people get married: what happens when societies legalize same-sex marriage . New York, NY: NYU Press.

Gerstmann, E. (2017). Same-sex marriage and the constitution . New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

Langbein, L., & Yost, M. A. (2009). Same-sex marriage and negative externalities.  Social Science Quarterly , 90(2), 292-308.

Nagle, J. (2010). Same-sex marriage: the debate . New York, NY: The Rosen Publishing Group.

Winter, B., Forest, M., & Senac, R. (2017). Global perspectives on same-sex marriage: a neo-institutional approach . New York, NY: Springer.

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Example 2: Sample Essay Outline on Same Sex Marriages

Thesis:  Same sex marriage, just like opposite sex marriage, should be legal.

Pros of Same Sex Marriage

Same sex couples are better at parenting.

• Children brought up by same sex couples do better in terms of family cohesion and overall health.
• Children under the guardianship of lesbian mothers perform better academically and socially.

Same sex marriage reduces divorce rates.

• The divorce rates in a state were reduced significantly after the state legalized gay marriages. Higher divorce rates were recorded in states where gay marriages are prohibited.
• Divorce is not good for family cohesion.

Same sex marriage increases psychological wellbeing.

• Bisexuals, gays, and lesbians feel socially rejected if society views same-sex marriages as illegal or evil.
• After some states banned this kind of marriage, bisexuals, gays, and lesbians living there experienced increased anxiety disorders.

Cons of Same Sex Marriage

Same sex marriages may diminish heterosexual marriages.

• It could be possible for children in homosexual families to think that same sex unions are more fulfilling.
• They might want to become homosexuals upon growing up.

For a holistic development, a child should have both mother and father.

• Absence of a father or a mother in a family leaves a gaping hole in the life of a child.
• A child needs to learn how to relate with both male and female genders right from when they are born.

Other non-typical unions may be encouraged by same sex unions.

• People who get involved in such other acts as bestiality and incest may feel encouraged.
• They might start agitating for their “right” to get married to animals for instance.

Why Same Sex Marriage Should Be Legal

Paragraph 7:

Marriage is a fundamental human right.

• All individuals should enjoy marriage as a fundamental right.
• Denying one the right to marry a same sex partner is akin to denying them their basic right.

Paragraph 8:

Marriage is a concept based on love.

• It is inaccurate to confine marriage to be only between a man and woman.
• Marriage is a union between two people in love with each other, their gender or sexual orientation notwithstanding.

Paragraph 9:

opponents of same-sex marriage argue that a relationship between same-sex couples cannot be considered marriage since marriage is the union between a man and a woman.

• However, this definitional argument is both conclusory and circular.
• It is in no way logical to challenge gay marriage based on this archaic marriage definition.

Same sex marriage should be legalized by all countries in the world. In the U.S., the debate surrounding its legalization should die off because it is irrelevant. People have the right to marry whoever they like whether they are of the same sex.

Same Sex Marriage Essay Example

The idea of same sex marriage is one of the topics that have been widely debated in the United States of America. It has often been met with strong opposition since the majority of the country’s citizens are Christians and Christianity views the idea as evil. On the other hand, those who believe it is right and should be legalized have provided a number of arguments to support it, including that it is a fundamental human right. This debate is still ongoing even after a Supreme Court ruling legalized this type of marriage. However, this debate is unnecessary because same sex marriage, just like opposite sex marriage, should be legal.

It has been proven through studies that same sex couples are better at parenting. A University of Melbourne 2014 study indicated that compared to children raised by both mother and father, children brought up by same sex couples do better in terms of family cohesion and overall health. Similarly, the journal  Pediatrics  published a study in 2010 stating that children under the guardianship of lesbian mothers performed better academically and socially (Gerstmann, 2017). The children also experienced fewer social problems.

Same sex marriages also reduce divorce rates. According to Gerstmann (2017), the divorce rates in a state were reduced significantly after the state legalized gay marriages. This was as per the analysis of the before and after divorce statistics. Likewise, higher divorce rates were recorded in states where gay marriages are prohibited. Generally, divorce is not good for family cohesion especially in terms of caring for children. Children need to grow up under the care of both parents hence the need for their parents to stay together.

In addition, same sex marriage increases psychological wellbeing. This is because bisexuals, gays, and lesbians feel socially rejected if society views same-sex marriages as illegal or evil. A study report released in 2010 showed that after some states banned this kind of marriage, bisexuals, gays, and lesbians living there experienced a 248% rise in generalized anxiety disorders, a 42% increase in alcohol-use disorders, and a 37% rise in mood disorders (Winter, Forest & Senac, 2017). In this respect, allowing such marriages would make them feel normal and accepted by society.

Same sex marriages may diminish heterosexual marriages and the longstanding marriage culture in society. Perhaps, it could be possible for children in homosexual families to think that same sex unions are more fulfilling and enjoyable than opposite-sex relationships. As a result, they might want to become homosexuals upon growing up. This would mean that standardized marriages between opposite sexes face a bleak future (Nagle, 2010). Such a trend might threaten to throw the human race to extinction because there would be no procreation in future generations.

Same sex unions also fall short because for a holistic development, a child should have both a mother and a father. Absence of a father or a mother in a family leaves a gaping hole in the life of a child. The two major genders in the world are male and female and a child needs to learn how to relate with both of them right from when they are born (Nagle, 2010). A father teaches them how to live alongside males while a mother teaches them how to do the same with females.

Further, other non-typical unions may be encouraged by same sex unions. If the marriages are accepted worldwide, people who get involved in such other acts as bestiality and incest may feel encouraged (Winter, Forest & Senac, 2017). They might even start agitating for their “right” to get married to animals, for instance. This possibility would water down and deinstitutionalize the whole concept of consummation and marriage. This would further diminish the existence of heterosexual marriages as people would continue to find less and less importance in them.

Same sex unions should be legal because marriage is a fundamental human right. It has been stated by the United States Supreme Court fourteen times since 1888 that all individuals should enjoy marriage as a fundamental right (Hertz & Doskow, 2016). In making these judgments, the Supreme Court has repeatedly stated that the Due Process Clause protects as one of the liberties the freedom to make personal choice in matters of marriage. The Court has maintained that this free choice is important as it allows free men to pursue happiness in an orderly manner. Thus, denying one the right to marry a same sex partner is akin to denying them their basic right.

People should also be legally allowed to get into same sex unions since marriage is a concept based on love. It is traditionally inaccurate to confine marriage to be only between a man and a woman. The working definition of marriage should be that it is a union between two people in love with each other, their gender or sexual orientation notwithstanding (Hertz & Doskow, 2016). Making it an exclusively man-woman affair trashes the essence of love in romantic relationships. If a man loves a fellow man, they should be allowed to marry just like a man and a woman in love may do.

As already alluded to, opponents of same-sex marriage argue that a relationship between same-sex couples cannot be considered marriage since marriage is the union between a man and a woman. Based on this traditional definition of marriage, they contend that gay and lesbian couples should not marry. However, as noted by Carpenter (2005), this definitional argument is both conclusory and circular and is thus seriously flawed and fallacious. It is in no way logical to challenge gay marriage based on this archaic marriage definition. That marriage only happens when one man and one woman come together in a matrimony is a constricted view of the institution of marriage. Moreover, there are no reasons accompanying the definition showing that it is the right one or should be the only one (Carpenter, 2005). Therefore, it should be expanded to include same-sex couples. The lack of reasons to support it makes it defenseless thus weak.

Same sex marriages should be legalized by all countries in the world. In the U.S., the debate surrounding its legalization should die off because it is irrelevant. People have the right to marry whoever they like whether they are of the same sex or not. Just like love can sprout between a man and a woman, so can it between a man and a fellow man or a woman and a fellow woman. There is absolutely no need to subject gays, lesbians, and bisexuals to unnecessary psychological torture by illegalizing same sex marriage.

Carpenter, D. (2005). Bad arguments against gay marriage.  Florida Coastal Law Review , VII , 181-220.

Gerstmann, E. (2017).  Same-sex marriage and the constitution . New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

Hertz, F., & Doskow, E. (2016).  Making it legal: a guide to same-sex marriage, domestic partnerships & civil unions . Berkeley, CA: Nolo.

Nagle, J. (2010).  Same-sex marriage: the debate . New York, NY: The Rosen Publishing Group.

Winter, B., Forest, M., & Senac, R. (2017).  Global perspectives on same-sex marriage: a neo-institutional approach . New York, NY: Springer.

Example 3: Same Sex Marriage Essay

Same Sex Marriage Essay- Changing Attitudes on Gay Marriage. Discuss how the idea of gay marriage has changed over the last decade and show the progression of the movement.

Changing Attitudes on Same Sex Marriage Essay Outline

Introduction 

Thesis:  Gay marriage was regarded as an abomination in the early years, but in recent times the attitude of the society towards same-sex marriage is gradually changing.

In 1965, 70% of Americans were opposed to same-sex marriage.

• They cited its harmfulness to the American life.
• Prevalence of AIDS among gay people further increased this opposition.

Social gay movements contributed to change in the attitude of the society towards gay marriage.

• Gay movements increased the exposure of members of the society to gay marriage while showing their sufferings.
• Through social movements, the society saw the need for equality and fair treatment of gay persons.

Political movements in support of gay marriage have as well contributed to change in the attitude of the society towards gay marriage.

• Political bodies and politicians pushed for equality of gay people in efforts to garner political mileage.
• The influence of politicians changed the attitude of the society towards gay marriage.

The incidence of gay people, particularly in the United States has contributed to change in the attitude of the society towards gay marriage.

• Increase in the number of gay persons pushed people into accepting gay marriage.
• The media contributed in gathering compassion from members of the society by evidencing the sufferings of gay people.

The judiciary upheld the legitimacy of same-sex marriage.

• In 2014, 42 court rulings were made in favor of gay marriage.
• There are more than 30 states today with policies in support of same-sex marriage.

The increased push for the freedom of marriage contributed to changing the attitude on gay marriage.

• The Supreme Court ruling in 1987 that stopped governments from restricting the freedom of marriage worked in favor of same-sex marriage.

Paragraph 7: 

Supporters of same sex marriage have also increasingly argued that people should be allowed to marry not necessarily based on their gender but on the love between them.

• Restricting marriage to a union between heterosexual couples only creates a biased view of human sexuality.
• An adult should be allowed the freewill to seek for the fulfillment of love by starting a relationship with a partner of whichever gender of their choosing.

Gay marriage has been the subject of social, political and religious debates for many years but over the past two decades, the attitude of the society towards same-sex marriage has changed. Social gay movements and increased incidence of gay people has compelled the community to accept and tolerate gay marriages. The judiciary has as well contributed to this change in attitude by pushing the freedom and right to marriage.

Changing Attitudes on Same Sex Marriage Sample Essay

In the early years, gay marriage was an abomination and received criticism from many members of society. The principal reason as to why many people in society were objected to gay marriage was that it went against religious and societal values and teachings (Decoo, 2014). However, over the past three decades, the perception of society towards the practice has changed. The degree of its social tolerance and acceptance has gradually improved. In the 2000s, numerous social and political lobby groups pushed for a change in insolences towards gay marriage (Decoo, 2014). Though these lobby groups have tried to advocate for the rights of gay people, their principal focus was to change people’s attitudes towards homosexuality.

According to a study conducted in the year 1965 investigating the attitudes of Americans towards gay marriage, seventy percent of the respondents were opposed to the idea of same-sex marriage citing its harmfulness to the American life. Most Americans felt that the practice went against the social and moral values of the American society. In the years between 1975 and 1977, the number of Americans who were not objected to gay marriage increased (Decoo, 2014). However, this number decreased in the years of 1980, when the prevalence of AIDS among gay people hit alarming levels. In the years that followed, the attitudes of the American society towards gay marriage rapidly changed.

The rise of gay social movements has contributed significantly to a change in attitude of the society towards gay marriage. In the early years, people were not exposed to issues of same-sex marriage, but the gay social movements focused on increasing the exposure of gay marriage, while advocating for their equal treatment (Keleher & Smith, 2018). These movements were able to reveal the injustices and unfair treatment that gays were exposed to, and how such unfair treatment tarnishes the image of the society (Keleher & Smith, 2018). The movements persuaded the society to embark on ways of addressing injustices meted out on gay people. Through highlighting these injustices, members of the society acknowledged the need for reforms to bring about impartiality and non-discrimination in marriage.

Political movements in support of gay marriage have as well contributed to changing the attitude of the society towards the practice. As a matter of fact, one of the strategies that gay social movements employed in their advocacy for gay rights were political maneuvering (Demock, Doherty & Killey, 2013). The lobby groups approached aspiring politicians, who would advocate for equal rights of gays to garner political mileage. With time, politicians would use the subject to attack their competitors who were opposed to the idea of same sex marriage (Demock, Doherty & Killey, 2013). This increased political support for gay marriage influenced members of the society into changing their attitude towards the same.

The ever increasing number of gays, particularly in the United States, has contributed to a change in the attitude of the world society towards gay marriage. As the number of gays increased in the U.S., it became hard for members of the society to continue opposing this form of marriage (Demock, Doherty & Killey, 2013). Many families had at least one or more of their family members who would turn out to be gay. The perception of gay people by such families would therefore change upon learning that their loved ones were also gay (Demock, Doherty & Killey, 2013). The media also played a significant role in gathering compassion from the members of the society by portraying the injustices that gay people experienced (Demock, Doherty & Killey, 2013). The society would as a result be compelled to sympathize with gays and lesbians and thus change their stance on same-sex marriage.

Further, the judiciary has also contributed to the change in the attitude of the society towards gay marriage. There were states in the U.S. that initially illegalized same sex marriages, prompting gay people to file discrimination lawsuits (Coontz, 2014). Reports indicate that in the year 2014, there were more than 42 court rulings that ruled in favor of same-sex couples (Coontz, 2014). Some critics of same-sex marriage termed these rulings as judicial activism. They argued that the judiciary was frustrating the will of the American society, which was opposed to same-sex marriage (Coontz, 2014). Following these rulings and the increased advocacy for equality and fair treatment of gay people, some states implemented policies is support of same-sex marriage (Coontz, 2014). Today, the entire United States treats the practice as legal, as was determined by the Supreme Court back in 2015.

The increased push for the freedom of marriage has also contributed to changing the attitude on gay marriage. In the early years, there were states, especially in the United States, that opposed interracial marriages, so that a white could not marry an African-American, for instance (Coontz, 2014). In the years before 1967, there were states that restricted people with tuberculosis or prisoners from getting married. Other states also discouraged employers from hiring married women. However, in 1987 the Supreme Court ruled that state governments had no right to deny people of their freedom of marriage (Coontz, 2014). When such laws were regarded as violations of human rights, gay people also termed the restriction of same-sex marriage as a violation of their liberty and freedom to marry.

Supporters of same sex marriage have also increasingly argued that people should be allowed to marry not necessarily based on their gender but on the love between them and their decision as two adults. According to such people, restricting marriage to a union between heterosexual couples only creates a biased view of human sexuality. For example, they point out that this extreme view fails to acknowledge that gay couples also derive fulfilment from their romantic relationships (Steorts, 2015). They additionally contend that an adult should be allowed the freewill to seek for this fulfillment by starting a relationship with a partner of whichever gender of their choosing. Whether they love a man or a woman should not be anybody’s concern. The argument also notes that gay couples who have come out clearly demonstrate that they are happy in their relationships.

Gay marriage has been the subject of social, political, and religious debates for many years but over the past two decades, the attitude of the society towards it has significantly changed. Social gay movements and increased numbers of gay people has compelled the community to accept and tolerate the practice. The judiciary has as well contributed to this change in attitude by pushing the freedom and right to marriage, thereby finally making the practice legal in the United States.

Coontz, S. (2014). “Why America changed its mind on gay marriageable”.  CNN . Retrieved June 23, 2020 from  http://edition.cnn.com/2014/10/13/opinion/coontz-same-sex-marriage/index.html

Decoo, E. (2014).  Changing attitudes toward homosexuality in the United States from 1977 to 2012 . Provo, UT: Brigham Young University.

Demock, M., Doherty, C., & Kiley, J. (2013). Growing support for gay marriage: changed minds and changing demographics.  Gen ,  10 , 1965-1980.

Keleher, A. G., & Smith, E. (2008). Explaining the growing support for gay and lesbian equality since 1990. In  Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Boston, MA .

Steorts, J. L. (2015). “An equal chance at love: why we should recognize same-sex marriage”.  National Review . Retrieved June 23, 2020 from  https://www.nationalreview.com/2015/05/yes-same-sex-marriage-about-equality-courts-should-not-decide/

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Argument for Gay Marriages Essay

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There have been heated debates over legalization of gay marriages in the society with varied opinions on its acceptance all over the world. Legal and social issues come into force when the debate of gay marriages is discussed. The parameter that gets a lot of attention when gay marriage is discussed is the legal issue because it entails issues to do with civil and basic equal rights.

It is argued that, even though gay marriage is not acceptable to many people, the choice of lifestyle should be respected. There is no tangible evidence though not a fact, that gay marriage has any harm in the society. Some researchers argue that there are good reasons to support legalization of gay marriage.

On the contrary, other scholars propose that legalizing same sex marriages will lead to enactment of more gay rights with time. Serious effects on religious beliefs and communities that oppose same sex marriages in the society may also be encouraged. Some of the laws that are likely to be enacted are those that will compel employers and landlords to hire and lease their property to homosexuals respectively.

Despite the differences in sex orientations, many people hold to their principles and characters in life. Sex and romance activities among individuals who practice monogamous relationships in same sex marriages have proven to do well in the society.

This has been impounded by the decline of sexually transmitted illnesses among couples practicing homosexuality. Children brought up in such families grow up to be stable emotionally and financially. This is due to the fact that rearing of children would not stop even if same sex unions become dominant.

This may be necessitated by adoption and inheritance of children. Through these unions, individuals are able to make long term plans for investment by making sacrifices for future benefits. For all the good reasons for supporting opposite sex marriages, the benefits are the same for same sex unions. This is due to the fact that same sex unions cannot lead to accidental kids, which result in an assumption that same sex marriage should be the most preferred.

Enacting laws that recognize gay marriages would be beneficial to the society in the sense that it promotes equal rights among members of the society. Even though the law recognizes marriage, it should not be taken as a moral right but a sign of appreciation because it does not specify sexual orientation. Therefore, it follows that legalizing same sex marriages is a promotion of harmony in the society.

I would also argue that refusing to legalize gay marriages would not affect the perceptions of people about the act of homosexuality. This can adversely affect the livelihoods of people. In my opinion, gay marriage is not immoral, and the globe would be better placed if all people believe the same.

If discrimination on sexual orientation is persistently practiced, the situation would get worse and cases of abuse would grow rampantly. Therefore, continuous legal bias against gay marriage would contribute to harmful behaviors against other people in the community.

People who oppose gay marriage argue that the practice would adversely affect opposite sex marriages. I do not agree that allowing close to three percent of the population to practice homosexuality would have a harmful effect on the whole population. Making the practice legal would make some people who are heterosexuals shift towards homosexual practices.

There are some individuals who display both homosexual and heterosexual tendencies and are referred to as bisexuals. These groups of people would likely shift to one of the orientations if gay marriages are legalized given their interpretation of the law and the benefits that they would get from the constitution.

Enacting laws that legalize same sex marriages would have very little effect on the way things are carried in the society. As much as there is little to benefit from this practice, the benefits are almost insignificant to members of the society. It is obvious that there are benefits of giving preference to opposite sex marriages. Some people argue that engaging gay marriages encourages the risk of sexually transmitted diseases.

I would argue that just as the practice is the same with same sex marriages, there is a greater risk of sexually transmitted diseases in opposite sex marriages compared to gay unions. In the same manner that multiple relationships expose people to sexually transmitted diseases, the same applies to homosexuals who engage with multiple partners. Therefore, gay marriages cannot be merely dismissed on the basis that it propagates transmission of STDs.

From the ancient times, the practice of marriage has always meant the union between a man and a woman and has passed the times from one generation to another. Throughout all the civilizations and modernization that have been witnessed in the globe, polygamy has not been done away with and has remained to be a normal practice among many nations.

With all the civilizations that have been witnessed in history, same sex practices have merely been witnessed. There are worries that this practice would destabilize the longest practices of opposite sex marriages. There are numerous changes in the society that have been witnessed in the recent past including premature sex, divorce, and separation. Some people argue that these occurrences have contributed to a better society but on the other extreme, they have caused harmful effects in the society.

In the same manner that these changes intruded the society like premature sex and divorce, allowing gay marriages would not cause any harm to members of the society but would bring more good. A very small percentage of people would be affected and a state of stability would be promoted among individuals who practice it.

When gay marriages are discussed, most people conclude that the act between two individuals of the same gender is not a natural biological process. They argue this on the basis that the act does not lead to procreation.

If one was to consider that the union of marriage must lead to children, then there would be severe consequences for people who could not get children as a result of sterility or impotence. If it is compulsory that people must give birth to children in marriage, then one is left to wonder the reason for marriage of women who have aged beyond menopause.

This implies that it would be unfair to discriminate against impotent, sterile and aged people. Therefore, it follows people marry for important reasons that include getting children, individual commitment, religious identification, satisfaction and to meet the requirements of the law.

In addition, one cannot merely dismiss the idea of marriage on the basis of age, sterility or impotence clinging on the traditional concept that it is meant for procreation. Gay marriages should, therefore, be allowed irrespective of the reason for their union.

Another popular idea in the public domain is that legalizing gay marriage would endanger the institution of marriage. Majority of the people who are conservatives argue that the institution of marriage is the most important unit in the society.

In my opinion, to deny people from getting into unions is a strange rejection of their basic right. A few years ago, blacks were not allowed to marry the whites yet very few people raised concerns that it was denial of a right. It would not be right to say that bad things would happen if gay marriages are legalized. Those people who criticized contraceptives argued that legalizing it would lead to bad things, though the implementation has brought many good things with it.

To date, the original meaning of marriage has undergone a lot of changes in several dimensions. It is bias to look at marriage from one point of view and leave the other. For instance, making women be owners of property even in their marriage life, or giving them room to sue their husbands of rape. As a result, for any reform that is anticipated in the society, it would be unfair to consider only people among different sex partners without considering homosexuals.

Traditional beliefs which do not support gay marriage have contradictions. According to some researchers, there are very few marriage practices that are believed to be traditional and are indeed in tandem with traditional practices. One of the practices is that marriage is a union between two people. Looking at the bible, there are many instances of men with many wives. For instance, Jacob had two wives who twelve tribes of Israel originated from.

This is typically a religious dimension. In the ancient times, marriage was not recognized in the law neither did it have any attachments with property in Europe’s prole marriages. Marriage was about agreement as a result of love and no attachment to property. All the ideologies that support the concept of marriage today are inconsistent and illogical. Therefore, marriage has been practiced differently in all the communities in the world and gay marriages should be given a chance.

As I stated earlier, being gay is not something of a choice rather, it is something to do with a biological explanation. Most gay people have secondary characteristics resembling people of the opposite sex, some of which are like soft skin, soft voice even the walking gait resembles that of the opposite sex. Secondary sexual characteristics are usually brought about by the hormones in the body. Male and female have different hormonal balance, some are dominant than others.

This is purely biological occurrence not influenced by external forces. In case of a male with female hormones dominating against female hormones, he may develop secondary sexual characteristics resembling that of female. Gay should just be taken as a lifestyle and not be viewed as people with no morals.

Discriminating gay is like discriminating against minority religious groups. Laws in a country are based on religion which is dominant, how about religions which do not have many followers, should they be discriminate against in the expense of the others or treated equally.

This is against the law of freedom of worship. Some religions believe in gay marriages and based on the freedom of worship, gay marriages should not be discriminated against. Therefore, I propose that gay individuals in the society should be embraced and treated normally as others.

Gay is a practice that has been brought about in the society as a result of modernization and civilization. Just like any other changes in the society, gay marriages should not be condemned. People should accept the practice in the society so that there is understanding and respect of people’s rights. As argued above, I strongly support legalization of gay marriages.

American Civil Liberties Union. 1996. Gay Marriage . California, CA: Greenhaven Press.

Sullivan, A. 2000. Why ‘civil union’ isn’t marriage . Web.

• Same-Sex Couples Should Enter Into Legally Recognized Unions?
• Gay Marriage and Parenting
• Medical and Social Stances on Homosexuality
• Homosexuality - Nature or Nurture?
• Media and Homosexuality
• Gay Couples Should Not to Marry
• How females flirt with males
• Arguments for Gay Marriages
• Opposition to the Legalization of Same Sex Marriage
• The Concept of Same Sex Marriage and Child Adoption
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2018, November 6). Argument for Gay Marriages. https://ivypanda.com/essays/argument-for-gay-marriages/

"Argument for Gay Marriages." IvyPanda , 6 Nov. 2018, ivypanda.com/essays/argument-for-gay-marriages/.

IvyPanda . (2018) 'Argument for Gay Marriages'. 6 November.

IvyPanda . 2018. "Argument for Gay Marriages." November 6, 2018. https://ivypanda.com/essays/argument-for-gay-marriages/.

1. IvyPanda . "Argument for Gay Marriages." November 6, 2018. https://ivypanda.com/essays/argument-for-gay-marriages/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Argument for Gay Marriages." November 6, 2018. https://ivypanda.com/essays/argument-for-gay-marriages/.

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An Argument For Same-Sex Marriage: An Interview with Jonathan Rauch

The debate over same-sex marriage in the United States is a contentious one, and advocates on both sides continue to work hard to make their voices heard. To explore the case for gay marriage, the Pew Forum has turned to Jonathan Rauch, a columnist at The National Journal and guest scholar at The Brookings Institution. Rauch, who is openly gay, also authored the 2004 book Gay Marriage: Why It Is Good for Gays, Good for Straights, and Good for America.

A counterargument explaining the case against same-sex marriage is made by Rick Santorum, a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and a former U.S. senator.

Featuring: Jonathan Rauch, Senior Writer, TheNational Journal

Interviewer: David Masci , Senior Research Fellow, Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life

In this Q&A: Why same-sex marriage?

Opposition from social conservatives

Is there a slippery slope?

Strategies for legalization

Why is marriage – I’m sorry, why is same-sex marriage good for America?

Well, you got the question right the first time. It’s “why is marriage good for America?” Same-sex marriage is good for all the same reasons. It’s good for gay people. I think if you asked straight people who have been married or hope to get married to imagine life without marriage, it’s very hard to imagine. It’s a much lonelier, much more vulnerable life.

Gay people need all the same safety. They need the same caregiving anybody else does. A society with successful marriages – and a lot of them – is a more stable, safer, more successful society. America’s problem is not too many marriages, it’s too few. Gay people are asking to be part of this social contract – to care for each other so society doesn’t have to.

What do you think drives the opposition to same-sex marriage? Does it ultimately boil down in many cases to discrimination? Is it that people are just unused to or uncomfortable with the idea of gay people marrying?

All of the above and much more. I’ve given a lot of talks on gay marriage in a lot of cities since writing a book about it in 2004 called Gay Marriage: Why It Is Good for Gays, Good for Straights, and Good for America . I did a lot of traveling with it and talked to a lot of different kinds of audiences. And it runs the gamut. You get religious people who will say, God created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve. You get very sympathetic people who say, I really want to do something for gay people, but changing the fundamental boundaries of our most ancient, important institution just goes too far, so let’s do civil unions or something else. And then, you get a lot of people in between.

So it’s a whole variety of reasons. And I’m the first to agree, gay marriage is a significant change; it’s a big change. It’s not something you necessarily expect people to jump into.

You mentioned religious people. They will say things like, look, both the Old and New Testaments in the Bible are very clear about this: God intended marriage to be between a man and a woman.

If you do biblical marriage, then you’re talking about polygamy. It’s there in black-and-white. Or, you’re talking about, for heaven’s sake, no divorce. Jesus himself had nothing to say about homosexuality, but he’s very clear on divorce. You can’t do it. And what I don’t understand is why gay people are the only people in America who have to follow biblical law. I don’t think that’s fair. We could also have other debates about what the Bible does and doesn’t mean, but I think what it boils down to is that gay people should deal with the same standards as straight people. And when straight people start upholding biblical law in civic culture, then maybe gay people should consider it, but not until then.

Opponents of same-sex marriage, particularly social conservatives, will argue that same-sex marriage could or would hurt traditional marriage because by broadening the definition of marriage, you make it less special – less sacred in a sense. And then, eventually, marriage will lose its special place in society – lose its meaning. Why do you think this logic is incorrect?

It depends on what exactly they’re saying. But I think society is at a turning point. We’ve got all these gay couples out there. They’re already acting married in many cases. We’ve got a generation growing up now, which takes for granted that they’ll be able to live a lifestyle that is very much like marriage, even if in most states it’s not called marriage. To have those people set up a married kind of lifestyle – often raising kids, by the way; many gay couples are raising kids – outside of marriage sends all the wrong cultural signals.

The signal we need to send now is that everybody should be getting married. The big cultural problem with the family in America is not that gay people want to get married – it’s that straight people are not getting married or not staying married. And to me, one of the important cultural effects of gay marriage will be to send a very strong signal that marriage is something that is available to and expected of everybody, not just a few.

Now, there are lots of arguments on the other side about people who think that gay marriage will hurt straight marriage. I’ve never really understood why admitting gay couples – fairly small in number – into the institution of marriage and having them uphold those ideals would make marriage less likely or successful for anyone else. I’m probably not the best person to ask for those arguments.

What about the argument that when you make marriage about rights and equal treatment you ultimately open up the field to other sorts of relationships – like polygamous or incestuous relationships – as well? Is that likely, first of all, and, if it is likely, is that a problem?

It would be a problem if it were likely. I think there are a lot of important and good social reasons to be against polygamy and incestuous marriage. We can talk about those if you’re interested. But, fundamentally, it’s not directly relevant. I guess there’s this political argument: Once you have one change, you’re going to get every change.

First of all, I don’t think the American public is that indiscriminating. Second of all, there is no logical connection between gay marriage and all of these other things. I often say, you know, when straight people get the right to marry two or three people or their mother or a toaster, then gay people should have the same right.

But all gay people are asking for now is the one thing that we lack but that all straight people already have – they don’t need to give themselves anything more. And that’s the opportunity to marry some person – one person – that we love. Right now, we can’t marry anybody. The set is the null set for us. That’s not true of straight people who want multiple husbands or multiple wives. That’s not true of people who want to marry their mother; they can have 4 billion marriage partners except their mother. So, ultimately, I think those arguments, although well intended, are primarily a red herring.

You said that you don’t think same-sex marriage would hurt traditional marriage. In fact, it sounds like you’re saying it might actually help marriage in general – the idea of marriage. But what if you were convinced otherwise?

I’ve often said, if I believed that gay marriage would wreck straight marriage then I’d be against it just as if I thought that giving women the vote would wreck democracy so that no one’s vote mattered, I’d be against that, too.

On the other hand, if gay marriage was to have a very small, sort of incremental bad effect on the divorce rate for straight people, I’d say that’s not enough to stop it because you’ve got 10, 12, 15 million Americans not only without marriage, but without even the prospect of marriage. You’ve got them growing up assuming that they’ll be legal strangers to the people that mean the most to them – that they’re committed to care about. And that’s just a scalding deprivation.

When Goodridge v. Department of Public Health , the 2003 Massachusetts decision legalizing same-sex marriage, was handed down, there was a prediction that there was going to be a domino effect and that within five or 10 years we were going to see a lot of other states follow suit. But, at least so far, that hasn’t happened. Are we in the lull before the storm, or do you think that widespread legalization of gay marriage is still a long way off, if it happens at all?

I think it’ll take a while, and I think it should take a while. I see the reaction as going through a few stages. The first was panic after the Supreme Court knocked down the Texas ban on sodomy. And then after Goodridge mandated same-sex marriage in Massachusetts, you had some of the gay marriage advocates saying, we need to get the court to impose this around the country as fast as possible. And then you had conservatives saying, we need to rush through a constitutional amendment at the federal level to ban gay marriage on every inch of American soil forever.

But to my great gratitude – and I think it’s almost inspirational how right the country has gotten this – the public has refused to be rushed. The public has come to understand that we can take our time with this. And the way to do this is let different states do different things. Let’s find out how gay marriage works in a few states. Let’s find out how civil unions work. In the meantime, let the other states hold back.

Marriage is not like voting, something the government just gives you at the stroke of a pen by fiat. Marriage must be a community institution to have its full power, which is to make couples actually closer. It actually fortifies and not just ratifies relationships. Your marriage has to be recognized by your community, your friends, your family, your kids’ teachers, your co-workers, all of the people around you as a marriage with all of the expectations and social support that goes with that. The law can’t give you that. That comes from community and that’s something gay couples are going to have to build by showing, as I think we are in Massachusetts, that we can be good marital citizens, that we’re not hurting anybody else’s marriage.

From your point of view, is it better to legalize same-sex marriage by passing a law in the legislature, or are courts a better venue for this?

I think now in 2008, clearly, the legislatures are a better way to do it. To everything its season. When this issue first came up in 1970 – the first gay couple tried to get married in 1970, filed a lawsuit and lost – the courts were the only place you could go. There was no chance that any legislature would ever even hear you out if you were gay and wanted to get married.

But I think the court strategy has basically exhausted its utility. In fact, it may have overreached. And what we’re seeing now is that, in any case, the number of court venues where you can even use a judicial strategy are very, very sharply diminished. They are almost all gone because of the state constitutional amendments and because a lot of courts have acted already. So that means we’re now turning to the next stage. And I think it’s the proper stage. That’s the democratic process. I think it is qualitatively different and better if you get married with the consent of your community, which, in America, means your state legislature, among other things. And that’s where we need to go.

Let’s assume that same-sex marriage eventually becomes the norm in America. Are there any downsides for gays and lesbians?

No. No, I see none at all. For gays and lesbians, I see only an upside. I see an opportunity to join in the most healthgiving, beneficial social institution that’s ever been invented by humanity. I see the prospect for young people to grow up assuming that they will have families and connections to their community that have been denied to gay people for thousands of years. I see no downside at all for gay people.

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Should Gay Marriage Be Legal?

ARCHIVED WEBSITE

This site was archived on Dec. 15, 2021. A reconsideration of the topic on this site is possible in the future. 

On June 26, 2015, the US Supreme Court ruled that gay marriage is a right protected by the US Constitution in all 50 states. Prior to their decision, same-sex marriage was already legal in 37 states and Washington DC, but was banned in the remaining 13. US public opinion had shifted significantly over the years, from 27% approval of gay marriage in 1996 to 55% in 2015, the year it became legal throughout the United States, to 61% in 2019.

Proponents of legal gay marriage contend that gay marriage bans are discriminatory and unconstitutional, and that same-sex couples should have access to all the benefits enjoyed by different-sex couples.

Opponents contend that marriage has traditionally been defined as being between one man and one woman, and that marriage is primarily for procreation. Read more background…

Pro & Con Arguments

Pro 1 To deny some people the option to marry would be discriminatory and would create a second class of citizens. Same-sex couples should have access to the same benefits enjoyed by heterosexual married couples. On July 25, 2014 Miami-Dade County Circuit Court Judge Sarah Zabel ruled Florida’s gay marriage ban unconstitutional and stated that the ban “serves only to hurt, to discriminate, to deprive same-sex couples and their families of equal dignity, to label and treat them as second-class citizens, and to deem them unworthy of participation in one of the fundamental institutions of our society.” [ 105 ] As well as discrimination based on sexual orientation, gay marriage bans discriminated based on one’s sex. As David S. Cohen, JD, Associate Professor at the Drexel University School of Law, explained, “Imagine three people—Nancy, Bill, and Tom… Nancy, a woman, can marry Tom, but Bill, a man, cannot… Nancy can do something (marry Tom) that Bill cannot, simply because Nancy is a woman and Bill is a man.” [ 122 ] Over 1,000 benefits, rights and protections are available to married couples in federal law alone, including hospital visitation, filing a joint tax return to reduce a tax burden, access to family health coverage, US residency and family unification for partners from another country, and bereavement leave and inheritance rights if a partner dies. [ 6 ] [ 86 ] [ 95 ] Married couples also have access to protections if the relationship ends, such as child custody, spousal or child support, and an equitable division of property. [ 93 ] Married couples in the US armed forces are offered health insurance and other benefits unavailable to domestic partners. [ 125 ] The IRS and the US Department of Labor also recognize married couples, for the purpose of granting tax, retirement and health insurance benefits. [ 126 ] An Oct. 2, 2009 analysis by the New York Times estimated that same-sex couples denied marriage benefits incurred an additional $41,196 to $467,562 in expenses over their lifetimes compared with married heterosexual couples. [ 7 ] Additionally, legal same-sex marriage comes with mental and physical health benefits. The American Psychological Association, American Psychiatric Association, and others concluded that legal gay marriage gives couples “access to the social support that already facilitates and strengthens heterosexual marriages, with all of the psychological and physical health benefits associated with that support.” [ 47 ] A study found that same-sex married couples were “significantly less distressed than lesbian, gay, and bisexual persons not in a legally recognized relationship.” [ 113 ] A 2010 analysis found that after their states had banned gay marriage, gay, lesbian and bisexual people suffered a 37% increase in mood disorders, a 42% increase in alcohol-use disorders, and a 248% increase in generalized anxiety disorders. [ 69 ] Read More

Pro 2 Gay marriages bring financial gain to federal, state, and local governments, and boost the economy. The Congressional Budget Office estimated in 2004 that federally-recognized gay marriage would cut the budget deficit by around $450 million a year. [ 89 ] In July 2012 New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that gay marriage had contributed $259 million to the city’s economy in just a year since the practice became legal there in July 2011. [ 43 ] Government revenue from marriage comes from marriage licenses, higher income taxes in some circumstances (the so-called “marriage penalty”), and decreases in costs for state benefit programs. [ 4 ] In 2012, the Williams Institute at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) found that in the first five years after Massachusetts legalized gay marriage in 2004, same-sex wedding expenditures (such as venue rental, wedding cakes, etc.) added $111 million to the state’s economy. [ 114 ] Read More

Pro 3 Legal marriage is a secular institution that should not be limited by religious objections to same-sex marriage. Religious institutions can decline to marry gay and lesbian couples if they wish, but they should not dictate marriage laws for society at large. As explained by People for the American Way, “As a legal matter, marriage is a civil institution… Marriage is also a religious institution, defined differently by different faiths and congregations. In America, the distinction can get blurry because states permit clergy to carry out both religious and civil marriage in a single ceremony. Religious Right leaders have exploited that confusion by claiming that granting same-sex couples equal access to civil marriage would somehow also redefine the religious institution of marriage… this is grounded in falsehood and deception.” [ 132 ] Nancy Cott, PhD, testified in Perry v. Schwarzenegger that “[c]ivil law has always been supreme in defining and regulating marriage.” [ 41 ] Read More

Pro 4 The concept of “traditional marriage” has changed over time, and the idea that the definition of marriage has always been between one man and one woman is historically inaccurate. Harvard University historian Nancy F. Cott stated that until two centuries ago, “monogamous households were a tiny, tiny portion” of the world’s population, and were found only in “Western Europe and little settlements in North America.” [ 106 ] Official unions between same-sex couples, indistinguishable from marriages except for gender, are believed by some scholars to have been common until the 13th Century in many countries, with the ceremonies performed in churches and the union sealed with a kiss between the two parties. [ 106 ] Polygamy has been widespread throughout history, according to Brown University political scientist Rose McDermott, PhD. [ 106 ] [ 110 ] Read More

Pro 5 Gay marriage is a civil right protected by the US Constitution’s commitments to liberty and equality, and is an internationally recognized human right for all people. The NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), on May 21, 2012, named same-sex marriage as “one of the key civil rights struggles of our time.” [ 61 ] In 1967 the US Supreme Court unanimously confirmed in Loving v. Virginia that marriage is “one of the basic civil rights of man.” [60] In 2014, the White House website listed same-sex marriage amongst a selection of civil rights, along with freedom from employment discrimination, equal pay for women, and fair sentencing for minority criminals. [ 118 ] The US Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in the 1974 case Cleveland Board of Education v. LaFleur that the “freedom of personal choice in matters of marriage and family life is one of the liberties protected by the Due Process Clause” of the US Constitution. US District Judge Vaughn Walker wrote on Aug. 4, 2010 that Prop. 8 in California banning gay marriage was “unconstitutional under both the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses.” [ 41 ] The Due Process Clause in both the Fifth and 14th Amendments of the US Constitution states that no person shall be “deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” [ 111 ] The Equal Protection Clause in the 14th Amendment states that no state shall “deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” [ 112 ] Since 1888 the US Supreme Court has declared at least 14 times that marriage is a fundamental right for all. [ 3 ] Article 16 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights guarantees “men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion… the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.” [ 103 ] Amnesty International states that “this non-discrimination principle has been interpreted by UN treaty bodies and numerous inter-governmental human rights bodies as prohibiting discrimination based on gender or sexual orientation. Non-discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation has therefore become an internationally recognized principle.” [ 104 ] Read More

Pro 6 Marriage is not only for procreation, otherwise infertile couples or couples not wishing to have children would be prevented from marrying. Ability or desire to create offspring has never been a qualification for marriage. From 1970 through 2012 roughly 30% of all US households were married couples without children, and in 2012, married couples without children outnumbered married couples with children by 9%. [ 96 ] 6% of married women aged 15-44 are infertile, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. [ 97 ] In a 2010 Pew Research Center survey, both married and unmarried people rated love, commitment, and companionship higher than having children as “very important” reasons to get married, and only 44% of unmarried people and 59% of married people rated having children as a very important reason. [ 42 ] As US Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan noted, a marriage license would be granted to a couple in which the man and woman are both over the age of 55, even though “there are not a lot of children coming out of that marriage.” [ 88 ] Read More

Con 1 The institution of marriage has traditionally been defined as being between a man and a woman. Civil unions and domestic partnerships could provide the protections and benefits gay couples need without changing the definition of marriage. John F. Harvey, late Catholic priest, wrote in July 2009 that “Throughout the history of the human race the institution of marriage has been understood as the complete spiritual and bodily communion of one man and one woman.” [ 18 ] [ 109 ] In upholding gay marriage bans in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee on Nov. 6, 2014, 6th US District Court of Appeals Judge Jeffrey S. Sutton wrote that “marriage has long been a social institution defined by relationships between men and women. So long defined, the tradition is measured in millennia, not centuries or decades. So widely shared, the tradition until recently had been adopted by all governments and major religions of the world.” [ 117 ] In the Oct. 15, 1971 decision Baker v. Nelson, the Supreme Court of Minnesota found that “the institution of marriage as a union of man and woman, uniquely involving the procreation and rearing of children within a family, is as old as the book of Genesis.” [ 49 ] Privileges available to couples in civil unions and domestic partnerships can include health insurance benefits, inheritance without a will, the ability to file state taxes jointly, and hospital visitation rights. [ 155 ] [ 156 ] New laws could enshrine other benefits for civil unions and domestic partnerships that would benefit same-sex couple as well as heterosexual couples who do not want to get married. 2016 presidential candidate and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina stated that civil unions are adequate as an equivalent to marriage: “Benefits are being bestowed to gay couples [in civil unions]… I believe we need to respect those who believe that the word marriage has a spiritual foundation… Why can’t we respect and tolerate that while at the same time saying government cannot bestow benefits unequally.” [ 157 ] 43rd US President George W. Bush expressed his support for same-sex civil unions while in office: “I don’t think we should deny people rights to a civil union, a legal arrangement, if that’s what a state chooses to do so… I strongly believe that marriage ought to be defined as between a union between a man and a woman. Now, having said that, states ought to be able to have the right to pass laws that enable people to be able to have rights like others.” [158] Read More

Con 2 Marriage is for procreation. Same sex couples should be prohibited from marriage because they cannot produce children together. The purpose of marriage should not shift away from producing and raising children to adult gratification. [ 19 ] A California Supreme Court ruling from 1859 stated that “the first purpose of matrimony, by the laws of nature and society, is procreation.” [ 90 ] Nobel Prize-winning philosopher Bertrand Russell stated that “it is through children alone that sexual relations become important to society, and worthy to be taken cognizance of by a legal institution.” [ 91 ] Court papers filed in July 2014 by attorneys defending Arizona’s gay marriage ban stated that “the State regulates marriage for the primary purpose of channeling potentially procreative sexual relationships into enduring unions for the sake of joining children to both their mother and their father… Same-sex couples can never provide a child with both her biological mother and her biological father.” [ 98 ] Contrary to the pro gay marriage argument that some different-sex couples cannot have children or don’t want them, even in those cases there is still the potential to produce children. Seemingly infertile heterosexual couples sometimes produce children, and medical advances may allow others to procreate in the future. Heterosexual couples who do not wish to have children are still biologically capable of having them, and may change their minds. [ 98 ] Read More

Con 3 Gay marriage has accelerated the assimilation of gays into mainstream heterosexual culture to the detriment of the homosexual community. The gay community has created its own vibrant culture. By reducing the differences in opportunities and experiences between gay and heterosexual people, this unique culture may cease to exist. Lesbian activist M.V. Lee Badgett, PhD, Director of the Center for Public Policy and Administration at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, stated that for many gay activists “marriage means adopting heterosexual forms of family and giving up distinctively gay family forms and perhaps even gay and lesbian culture.” [14] Paula Ettelbrick, JD, Professor of Law and Women’s Studies, wrote in 1989, “Marriage runs contrary to two of the primary goals of the lesbian and gay movement: the affirmation of gay identity and culture and the validation of many forms of relationships.” [15] Read More

Con 4 Marriage is an outmoded, oppressive institution that should have been weakened, not expanded. LGBT activist collective Against Equality stated, “Gay marriage apes hetero privilege… [and] increases economic inequality by perpetuating a system which deems married beings more worthy of the basics like health care and economic rights.” [ 84 ] The leaders of the Gay Liberation Front in New York said in July 1969, “We expose the institution of marriage as one of the most insidious and basic sustainers of the system. The family is the microcosm of oppression.” [ 16 ] Queer activist Anders Zanichkowsky stated in June 2013 that the then campaign for gay marriage “intentionally and maliciously erases and excludes so many queer people and cultures, particularly trans and gender non-conforming people, poor queer people, and queer people in non-traditional families… marriage thinks non-married people are deviant and not truly deserving of civil rights.” [ 127 ] Read More

Con 5 Gay marriage is contrary to the word of God and is incompatible with the beliefs, sacred texts, and traditions of many religious groups. The Bible, in Leviticus 18:22, states: “Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination,” thus condemning homosexual relationships. [ 120 ] The Catholic Church, United Methodist Church, Southern Baptist Convention, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, National Association of Evangelicals, and American Baptist Churches USA all oppose same-sex marriage. [ 119 ] According to a July 31, 2003 statement from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and approved by Pope John Paul II, marriage “was established by the Creator with its own nature, essential properties and purpose. No ideology can erase from the human spirit the certainty that marriage exists solely between a man and a woman.” [ 54 ] Pope Benedict stated in Jan. 2012 that gay marriage threatened “the future of humanity itself.” [ 145 ] Two orthodox Jewish groups, the Orthodox Agudath Israel of America and the Orthodox Union, also oppose gay marriage, as does mainstream Islam. [ 13 ] [ 119 ] In Islamic tradition, several hadiths (passages attributed to the Prophet Muhammad) condemn gay and lesbian relationships, including the sayings “When a man mounts another man, the throne of God shakes,” and “Sihaq [lesbian sex] of women is zina [illegitimate sexual intercourse].” [ 121 ] Read More

Con 6 Homosexuality is immoral and unnatural, and, therefore, same sex marriage is immoral and unnatural. J. Matt Barber, Associate Dean for Online Programs at Liberty University School of Law, stated, “Every individual engaged in the homosexual lifestyle, who has adopted a homosexual identity, they know, intuitively, that what they’re doing is immoral, unnatural, and self-destructive, yet they thirst for that affirmation.” [ 149 ] A 2003 set of guidelines signed by Pope John Paul II stated: “There are absolutely no grounds for considering homosexual unions to be in any way similar or even remotely analogous to God’s plan for marriage and family… Marriage is holy, while homosexual acts go against the natural moral law.” [ 147 ] Former Arkansas governor and Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee stated that gay marriage is “inconsistent with nature and nature’s law.” [ 148 ] J. Matt Barber, Associate Dean for Online Programs at Liberty University School of Law, stated, “Every individual engaged in the homosexual lifestyle, who has adopted a homosexual identity, they know, intuitively, that what they’re doing is immoral, unnatural, and self-destructive, yet they thirst for that affirmation.” [ 149 ] A 2003 set of guidelines signed by Pope John Paul II stated: “There are absolutely no grounds for considering homosexual unions to be in any way similar or even remotely analogous to God’s plan for marriage and family… Marriage is holy, while homosexual acts go against the natural moral law.” [ 147 ] Read More

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The strongest argument against same-sex marriage: traditional marriage is in the public interest

by German Lopez

Opponents of same-sex marriage argued that individual states are acting in the public interest by encouraging heterosexual relationships through marriage policies, so voters and legislators in each state should be able to set their own laws.

Some groups, such as the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, cited the secular benefits of heterosexual marriages, particularly the ability of heterosexual couples to reproduce, as Daniel Silliman reported at the Washington Post .

”It is a mistake to characterize laws defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman as somehow embodying a purely religious viewpoint over against a purely secular one,” the bishops said in their amicus brief . “Rather, it is a common sense reflection of the fact that [homosexual] relationships do not result in the birth of children, or establish households where a child will be raised by its birth mother and father.”

Other groups, like the conservative Family Research Council, warned that allowing same-sex couples to marry would lead to the breakdown of traditional families. But keeping marriage to heterosexual couples, FRC argued in an amicus brief , allows states to “channel the potential procreative sexual activity of opposite-sex couples into stable relationships in which the children so procreated may be raised by their biological mothers and fathers.”

To defend same-sex marriage bans, opponents had to convince courts that there’s a compelling state interest in encouraging heterosexual relationships that isn’t really about discriminating against same-sex couples.

But a majority of Supreme Court justices and most of the lower courts widely rejected this argument, arguing that same-sex marriage bans are discriminatory and unconstitutional.

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Home — Essay Samples — Social Issues — Gay Marriage — The Complex Issue of Gay Marriage

The Complex Issue of Gay Marriage

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Published: Feb 7, 2024

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Introduction, historical context, arguments supporting gay marriage, arguments against gay marriage, counterarguments and refutations, case studies and comparative analysis.

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• Gay Marriage: Theological and Moral Arguments
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A theological approach that might open up the possibility for greater Christian acceptance of, and ecclesiastical approval for, same sex unions.

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Gay Marriage Argumentative Essays Example

Type of paper: Argumentative Essay

Topic: Social Issues , Marriage , Relationships , LGBT , Gay , Love , Children , Family

Words: 1000

Published: 02/28/2020

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There are several arguments support promote and oppose the legalization of same sex marriage. The first argument which opposes same-sex marriage is that marriage has traditionally been instituted between one man and one woman. The tradition of one man and one woman marriage is the only correct legal relationship in human culture (Newton 49). This can be traced from the old English law where under God’s law where all marriages that are contracted by lawful persons in the face of the church, can consummate with bodily knowledge and fruit of children (Newton 49). However, the advocates of gay marriage argue that same-sex couples have the ability to maintain long and loving intimate relationships just like traditional couples and be allowed to get married. In fact, gay marriages do not pose any threat or harm to the community. Proponents of same sex marriage believe that every person, regardless of sex, race, gender or sexual orientation must be given the same freedom to marry. Same-sex marriages promote equality among same-sex couples. Hence, to disallow gay marriages constitutes a violation of the equal protection and due process clause of the Constitution. To restrict the benefits, protection and obligation of civil marriage to ordinary couples of one man and one woman violates the personal liberty and equality under the law. To allow the civil marriage to same sex couples will strengthen the importance of marriage to individuals and communities (Cahill 4). The present marriage laws which permitted the approval of same-sex marriages shows that Congress has taken a neutral stand on the sexual orientation of every individual. By allowing same sex couples to get married promotes equality of persons by treating everyone in a similar manner. The second argument is that opposes same sex marriages is that same-sex couples do not have the capacity to reproduce or bear children. It bears to stress that there are a number of infertile couples who are permitted by the law to marry despite their medical condition. Thus, the requirement to bear children must not be taken against same-sex couples for the reason that infertile couples are allowed by law to enter a valid marriage. The opposite-sex couples are not even compelled to go through fertility tests before they get married since it violates the right to privacy. Marriage must not be focused solely on the concept of procreation since not all traditional couples produce children. In fact, there are some infertile couples who get married and maintain loving relationship and live together perpetually. Same sex couples are capable to carry-on lasting relationships like ordinary couples. In fact, some of the infertile couples are allowed to adopt if they cannot bear children of their own. Hence, same-sex couples have the capacity to raise children in the event that they decide to adopt. Gay couples have the ability to provide the love, care and attention to adopted children the same way given by traditional couples. There is no fundamental difference between lesbians and gay men in comparison to people with other sexual orientations (Newton 52). The third argument is that the right to marry and to marry the person of one’s choice is a fundamental right and a necessary aspect of human happiness (Goetting 138). Allowing civil marriages to same sex couples shall strengthen the importance of marriage to the entire community. The freedom of choice and the right to privacy among individuals must be upheld and respected when it comes to personal decisions. In fact, marriage is considered as a civil right and civil unions that should be given to all members of society regardless of sex, age, gender and sexual preference. The fourth argument by the advocates of same-sex marriage is that to deny the gay couples to marry should result to the treatment of the gay couples as second class citizens. In the case of Goodridge v. Department of Health, it was well-settled by the court that the right to marry is a personal choice. Same-sex marriages must be recognized since prohibiting gay couples to marry will cause discriminatory treatment towards this particular class of people (Goetting 142). To disallow gay marriages will constitute to a discriminatory law that does not have a legitimate purpose should be considered merely as a bare desire to cause material and objective harm (Wolfe 95). The fifth argument is that advocates of same-sex marriage argue that marriage is an exclusive commitment of two people who vow to nurture, love and render mutual support to each other by bringing stability to society (Halkitis 1628). The given definition is also applicable to same-sex couples who have chosen to build a family of their own, adopt children, and by providing the same unconditional love, attention and affection that traditional couples can give to their children. The duty to raise and nurture children can be fulfilled by gay couples who can provide love and guidance to their adopted children in the best way they can. Finally, the support given by President Barrack Obama on gay marriages not only helps in advancing the civil rights of gay men. In fact, it will improve the health of the population. All gay men who choose to marry or not will reinforce the movement towards marriage equality. The enactment of this right will support the civil liberty and strengthen the social capital (Halkitis 1628).

Works Cited:

Cahill, Sean Robert.Same Sex Marriage in The United States: Focus On The Facts.Maryland: Lexington Books, 2004. Print. Goetting, Nathan. “Gay Marriage Is A Fundamental Right.” National Lawyers Guild Review 70.3 (2013): 137-144. Goodridge v. Department of Health 798 N.E.2d 941 (Mass. 2003) Halkitis, Perry N. “Obama, Marriage Equality, and the Health of Gay Men.” American Journal of Public Health 102.9 (2012): 1628-1629. Newton, David E. (2010). Same-Sex Marriage: A Reference Handbook. California: ABC-CLIO. Wolfe, Zachary. “Gay Marriage: Accommodationist Demands Expand the Conception Of Human Dignity.” National Lawyers Guild Review 70.2 (2013): 88-99.

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“Protecting Kids” from Gay Marriage

Leading up to a 2004 debate about same-sex marriage, conservatives shifted their focus away from moral issues and toward arguments about children’s welfare.

Arguments against LGBTQ rights are often framed in terms of defending children . Writing soon after Senate Republicans’ failed 2004 attempt to pass the Federal Marriage Amendment (FMA), which would have banned same-sex marriage in the US, legal scholar Frederick Liu and political scientist Stephen Macedo looked at how proponents framed the issue in terms of kids .

Liu and Macedo write that the most internally coherent argument against gay marriage at the time came from legal scholars in the Catholicism-inspired “new natural law” school. They contended that marriage must be based on the biblical idea of “male and female” becoming “one flesh” and the intertwined idea that the essential purpose of marriage is “natural” reproduction.

But in the 2004 debate, the opponents of gay marriage shied away from identifying their position with religious doctrine or with criticisms of same-sex relationships. Liu and Macedo suggest this was largely a question of political expediency. The previous year, the US Supreme Court had struck down state laws against gay sex in Lawrence v. Texas without causing any public outcry. Republicans were also wary about giving credence to the new natural law scholars since their ideas included political non-starters like prohibiting divorce , contraception , and non-procreative heterosexual sex acts.

Instead, Senate Republicans argued that, as Utah Senator Orrin Hatch put it, “this amendment is not about discrimination… It is about safeguarding the best environment for children.”

This argument rested on the shaky ground of data showing more negative outcomes like dropping out of school or drug abuse among children raised outside heterosexual marriages—the vast majority of whom obviously did not have gay parents.

And Liu and Macedo write that, even taking this argument seriously, it has little to do with the FMA. At the time, every state except Florida permitted gay and lesbian individuals to adopt children, and the status of gay marriage was totally unrelated to the legality of gay couples raising kids.

Beyond suggesting that children suffered from having two parents of the same gender, the Republicans argued that, by its very existence, legal gay marriage would threaten opposite-sex marriages. Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas warned that marriage would come to be seen as “simply the expression of mutual affection between two consenting adults” rather than the normative context for creating a family.

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Liu and Macedo note that this argument leaned on research by Stanley Kurtz of the conservative Hoover Institution, who presented the legalization of same-sex marriage in Scandinavian countries as leading to high levels of out-of-wedlock births and parental separations. In fact, though, even Kurtz’s research pointed to a number of factors in changing models of family in northern Europe, including working women, reduced religiosity, and the creation of alternatives to marriage for straight couples, such as civil unions.

Recognizing that rolling back such broad societal changes was beyond their power, and that public attitudes about gay people was turning against them, Republicans turned to rhetoric about protecting the children from gay marriage.

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