SOC 120
Stephen Krough
August 6, 2012
Gay marriage has been a big controversy debate over the years not only in United States but nationwide. Lately, gay marriage has been a major debate in the political aspect. It has been heard in the White House as well as in the U.S. Congress. I feel that no matter what the sex or sexual identity of an individual, he or she should have the right to marry who so ever he or she chooses. In this paper, I will discuss the facts, and pros and cons of same sex marriages.
In United States it states that all men are created equal, but unfortunately that is not the case all men are not treated equal .In the 1960s, a movement for energized gay liberation started challenging accepted views and same-sex marriages were one of its first demands. In the early 1970s the first attempt was made to the courts to declare a right to same-sex marriages. In which they were defeated the court stated “Marriage has always been considered as the union of a man and woman and we have been presented with no authority to the contrary.”(Knoppelman, 5). After several lost attempts for suits that where filed in court in the 1980s it became evident that it looked like a complete loss cause. Due to the constant failure in court, the movement changed it methods and out full focus towards capsizing Sodomy laws, violence and discrimination towards their beliefs. The 1980s was a big movement for same-sex couples. In this era, an eagerness of record number of gays came out with the new that they were attracted to the same sex to families, friends, and co-workers. Due to this being new in 1985 only twenty-five percent of Americans would admit to having a gay friend, family member, or co-worker. In 2000 an increase had risen with about seventy-five percent of Americans admitting that they knew someone what was homosexuality. A lot of same sex couples cannot be married or gain the advantage of saying “I Do”. "Most supporters of same-sex marriage contend that gay and lesbian couples should be treated no differently than their heterosexual counterparts and that they should be able to marry like anyone else" (Masci, par. 2). There are a total of nine states in The United States that has gay marriages legal. Those states are Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire; Washington, DC. California, Florida, Vermont, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, and Arizona do not allow same-sex marriage but do recognize marriages legally performed in a state that allows it (Kathy Belge, 2010). I read from the 2010 Census, that there were 131,729 same-sex married couples’ households and 514,735 same-sex unmarried partner households in the United States alone. Lately it is noticed that the support for same-sex marriages has increase one percent each year over the last two decades. In 2012, it is estimated that majority of Americans will support gay marriage. Majority of gay couples resided in the states of New York, New York, Los Angeles, California, and Chicago, Illinois.
Religion as plays an important part to same-sex marriages. Relationship between religion and homosexuality vary greatly over across time and place within and between religions and sects, and regarding different forms of homosexuality and bisexuality (Wikipedia). Some religions feel that being homosexuality or bisexuality is totally wrong and that these individuals are a disgrace to their religion belief. In the Bible it states that God loves all his children, but just like your parent he does not have to agree to the choices that they make. Another argument used against same-sex marriage is that traditional marriage is between a man and a woman and they believe that traditions involved with marriage should be kept. What gives the government the right to choose force individuals to abide traditional marriage between man and woman? I feel that it is wrong to deny someone’s preference towards his or her sexuality. We are not the