Gay Marriage Research Paper

Most people believe that they deserve the rights they are granted by the government; an upstanding citizen who pays their taxes, serves their community and abides by the law should be afforded the rights of an American. However, not all citizens are afforded equal rights. Specifically, gay and lesbians couples are denied the right to marry even if they are upstanding citizens. Gays are people who are sexually attracted to someone who is the same sex; homosexuals and same- sex marriage is when two people of the same sex who live together as a family. They are held at an unfair disadvantage solely because of their sexual orientation;one’s natural preference in sexual partners. Being denied the right to marry affects all gay and lesbian couples of all ages but it mostly affects older adults because they are the one that are getting older, want to be married and want rights with their partner.

This discrimination must stop because gay and lesbian couples are law-abiding citizens too, who should be afforded the same rights as heterosexual couples. Denying same- sex marriage is a huge geographical appeal because it is affecting almost all gay and lesbian couples in the United States, but it is not just geographical it also affects me personally because I have a cousin who is gay and I see what older people are going thru wanting to get married because they have been together for a long but being denied that right; and it does hurt when you have to see what someone who is really close to you is going to have to go thru because of his sexual orientation. Same-sex marriage should be legalized because gays and lesbians want to get married for marital benefits, not religious reasons, it is unconstitutional not to allow gay couples to marry, and because legalizing it will dramatically help improve the economy by an astonishing amount.

The fight is for gay and lesbian couples to gain legal recognition, not religious recognition. Most people that are against same-sex marriages are against it because they disagree with their lifestyle because of their religious beliefs and church affiliation. The battle to legalize same-sex marriage is not trying to infringe upon the beliefs of the churches. It would be unfair for the government to decide in what people should and should not believe; this would be an infringement upon our right to freedom of religion. However, this does not give the government the right to discriminate against gay and lesbian couples in the eyes of the law because the government and religious beliefs are supposed to be separate. The following are lyrics from a song called “Same Love” and they are valid and reliable because it comes from a songwriter who is an activist for LGBT (lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgender).

“The right wing conservatives think it’s a decision / and you can be cured with some treatment and religion / Man-made rewiring of a predisposition, Playing God, aw nah here we go/ America the brave still fears what we don’t know/ And “God loves all his children” is somehow forgotten/ But we paraphrase a book written thirty-five-hundred years ago”(Macklemore, lines 11-17). These lyrics help explain what many religious people think,which is that same-sex couples chose to be homosexuals and that it’s so easy to change who they are, but when in reality it’s not, it’s who they are. Whether same-sex civil unions should be recognized legally is not a religious question. This is a debate over whether or not people of different sexual orientation are to be viewed equally in the eyes of the government, and will be accepted in American society.

Marriage is traditionally viewed as the legal union of a man and woman as husband and wife. But what happens when those two people are two men or two women? They are denied the right to marry;and denying gay couples the right to marry violates gay couples constitutional rights. It is entirely immoral to withhold human rights from humans like the legalization of same-sex marriage. The following quote comes from a valid and reliablesource because it comes from the well-known news website USA Today and was written by Tresa Baldas, Elisha Anderson and Bill Laitner who have wrote multiples of articles for USA Today and have reliable facts in all of their writing pieces.”This ruling from a Reagan-appointed judge continues a string of diverse judicial appointees all coming to the same conclusion, that denying same-sex couples the equal right to marry is unconstitutional” (Silva 2).

This just comes to prove how people are starting to realize and agree with the fact that not allowing people who are of the same sex marital benefits of legal union is unjust and unconstitutional. Same- sex couples not having marital rights affects them when tax time comes around because depending on where they live if they live in any of the 18 states that have legalized gay marriage out of all 50 statesand if they don’t then they have to file separately because their marriage isn’t recognized (Nessell 3). Of course many people that disagree with same-sex marriage and many say that “If homosexual “marriage” is universally accepted as the present step in sexual “freedom,” what logical arguments can be used to stop the next steps of incest, pedophilia, bestiality, and other forms of unnatural behavior”(Action 3).

This statement is not really valid and reliable because it comes from a website that is truly for bias people that are completely against same-sex marriage and negate the fact that anything good can come from making same-sex marriage legal. But in fact that is false and many good things can come from the legalization of same-sex marriage. Like I said many good things can come from the legalization of same-sex marriage but the best thing other than the happiness of gay couples because they get the marital rights that many of them have wanted to have for a long time, is that it will help boost up the economy by an astonishing amount. Which I think that probably you nor many other people have thought of it like that because I know I never thought that something likelegalizing same-sex marriage could have so many signs that point to a positive economic impact.

The following information is reliable because the writer of this article Bryce Covert has had many of her writing appear on The New York Times, The New York Daily News, The Nation, The Atlantic, The American Prospect, and many others, and the information is also valid because she has gotten it from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). It is said by the CBO that if same-sex marriage was to be legalized in all states there would be a slight positive impact on the budget “and extra $1 billion each year for the next ten years” and also the government would see a small increase in tax revenues, $500 million to $700 million annually from 2011 to 2014. There are still so many of the economic benefits that are yet to be recognized; but there is further proof that legalizing same–sex marriage would help the economy because “a year after New York passed the Marriage Equality Act, gay marriages generated $259 million in economic impact in New York City alone” (Covert 2).

There might also be times where the government might have to spend a little of more money but end up saving money later, “the government would have to spend more on Social Security and the Federal Employees Health Benefits program, but it would also save money when it came to safety net programs such as Supplemental Security Income, Medicaid, and Medicare. On net, gay marriage would reduce spending by about $100 million to $200 million a year from 2010 to 2014” (Covert 1). This is also further proving that making same-sex marriage legal could end up being a good thing for our economic future. Many people have many opinions on same-sex marriage and why it should or shouldn’t be legalized. But in my opinion I believe that same-sex marriage should be legal for the following reasons gays and lesbians want to get married for marital benefits, not religious reasons, it is unconstitutional not to allow gay couples to marry, and because legalizing it will dramatically help improve the economy by an astonishing amount.

Whether or not we should legalize same-sex marriage is a big deal right now because there are many gay couples that do want marital rights that they deserve to have. Just because the relationship happens to be between two people of the same sex should in no way discredit the validity of the partnership. What gives the government the right to dictate the emotional connection of any human being in love? Denying homosexuals the right to marital benefits of legal union like heterosexuals is unjust and cruel discrimination. They say “God loves all his children” and if so why can’t we just legalize same-sex marriage.

BATTLE FOR EQUALITY!

sexual orientation. (n.d.). The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. Retrieved April 09, 2014, from Dictionary.com website:http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sexual orientation “Gay.” Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 9 Apr. 2014. . same-sex marriage. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved April 09, 2014, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/same-sex marriage “Macklemore and Ryan Lewis – Same Love Lyrics.” Rap Genius. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Apr. 2014, from Rapgenius.com website:http://rapgenius.com/Macklemore-and-ryan-lewis-same-love-lyrics#note-1198610 Anderson, Tresa Baldas Elisha, and Bill Laitner Detroit Free Press. “Judge Strikes down Michigan’s Ban on Gay Marriage.” USA Today. Gannett, 21 Mar. 2014. Web. 09 Apr. 2014. “10 Reasons Why Homosexual “Marriage” Is Harmful and Must Be Opposed.” TFP Student Action. TFP Student Action, n.d. Web. 08 Apr. 2014. “Why Marriage Equality Is Good For The Economy And The Budget.” ThinkProgress RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Apr. 2014.