We All Hope to Be Gay
Marriage
has been a part of human beings since before the medieval age. Historically,
marriage has been seen as religion and civil union that bring a man and a woman
together for the purpose of bonding a family. When it comes to marry legally
neither religion nor race is an obstacle but sexual orientation is. Gay people
who have growing up feeling different than the majority of their peers since
they feel attracted to same sex ones are discriminated and not allowed to marry
legally as the heterosexual ones do. Many people are opposite to the homosexual
marriage and they believe that it is against the moral, the definition of
marriage, family values and sanctity. However, these ideas are wrong because
giving equal rights and status do not affect anyone else and it certainly won’t
bring the society down. Seeing that it isn’t something destructive, Netherlands
became the first country to allow same sex marriages 12 years ago and Denmark
was the first country to introduce civil partnership for same sex couples in
1989 (BBC, 23 April 2013). No matter what other people say, gay couples have
right to get married because they are who they are and there is nothing wrong
with it at all.
People
insist on believing that gay marriages harm society and not acceptable from
religious aspects. However, everybody has right to live the way they want and
gay marriages should not be forbidden. It is thought that if same sex marriages
are legalized, the number of gay ones may arise which is perceived as a
potential threat to marriage institutions. This opinion is completely incorrect
since same sex marriages do not undermine the value of traditional marriage and
traditional marriage will still exist the way it always has. Suppose that there
is a couple married 10 years and a gay couple move to the place where they
live, will it change or weaken the relationship of the other couple? It is
totally out of question as it will not affect that couple at all. Moreover, gay
marriages have potential to decrease the divorce rate. According to NBC 5 Chicago, in states where same-sex marriages are legally
recognized, the divorce rate is 20 percent lower than in the states that only
allow marriages between a man and a woman (Huff Post, May 17, 2014). Another
thing that people think believe that will happen is polygamous but it is
irrelevant because the question of who can marry is different question from how
many can marry. We are not asking the government to change the marriage but
include a group of people that have been excluded. Even if gay marriages are
accepted by society somehow, it is thought that giving some rights to them is
not a good decision because of causing more request of other minority and not
having ability to have children. Actually it will not cause as they do not want
more rights but want to have the rights as heterosexual ones do. When it comes
to having children, they can adopt children which will be quite useful for both
the children and society. Adopting children is thought something wrong for gay
people but what about the widow or infertile ones? As anybody else they should
have the right of adopting and it is better than having no parents.
Although marriage is a civil union and
religions shouldn’t involve in gay marriage, many argue that it is an essential
religious method and legalizing gay marriages is a kind of sacrilege. In Christianity and Islam, same sex marriage
is condemned. In Islam, Lot is an honored figure in the Quran where the story
of Lot people and the destruction of Sodom appear five times and Bible also
does mention and condemn same sex twice in Leviticus (18:22 and 20:13) and once
Genesis (19:1-11) (USC Annenberg, May 17, 2014). These things date back to old
times but still today one of the popes called Francis and his predecessor
Benedict XVI has restated that the Roman Catholic Church opposition to same sex
marriage (The Advocate, July 5, 2013) which shows that much time has passed but
ideas hasn’t changed. Furthermore, same sex marriage is punished in religions
which lead alienating people from society and giving capital punishment. There
are some evidences of alienating like declining to take picture of lesbian
couples’ ceremony in Mexico, not providing flowers for a same sex couple
wedding in Washington State (The Learning Network, February 24, 2014). This
type of behaviors gives harm to society and cause to discrimination. The point
that everybody is equal and free to do whatever wants should not be forgotten.
Besides alienating, capital punishments like imprison, flogging and death
penalty are used for the ones who is homosexual. Muslim believes that
homosexuality stems from exposure, conditioning and it is a challenge to
overcome. Indeed, what religion suggests
is much crueler but it is still not seen by many people. It is worse to believe
religion stuff than supporting gay marriages.
Many
people sense homosexuality as a mental illness, a gender disorder, a contagious
disease, a perversity, an abnormality and the result of seduction. While the
scientific research of medicine, psychiatry and psychology has clearly stated
that a homosexual orientation is not a disease, many people ignore this
scientific knowledge and they want homosexual ones to take therapy called
reorientation which wants to change the orientation of the person is applied.
However, mainstream psychologists say the
therapy is ineffective, unethical and often harmful, exacerbating anxiety and
self-hatred among those treated for what is not a mental disorder (Live
Science, August 19, 2013). Only in 1990 did the World Health
Organization removed homosexuality from the International Statistical
Classification of Disease and Related Health Problems. The American Psychiatric
Association removed homosexuality from Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of
Mental Disorders in 1973 (The Washington Times, April 14, 2013). Although it is not a disease according to scientific
information, people say it is an illness which is actually ideological
prejudges. According to a Pew Research Center in 39 countries broad
acceptance of homosexuality exist in North America, the European Union, and
much of Latin America, but equally widespread rejection in predominantly Muslim
nations and in Africa, as well as in parts of Asia and in Russia. Opinion about
the acceptability of homosexuality is divided in Israel, Poland and Bolivia
(Pew Research Center, June 4, 2013). People sense homosexuality as a bad
and sinful thing. The most difficult aspect of prejudge is one’s heart. Psychology
teaches us that prejudice and discrimination are human tendencies and we shape
our identity by differentiating ourselves from others. Why do they
make it harder for people just because they have a different skin color, God or
gender preference? These kind of prejudges should be broken down for the favor
of the society as soon as possible.
All in all, we have
no right to take away the privilege of marriage from two people who wish to
commit to a relationship with whom they love. Society has come a long way from
the days of illegal interracial marriage however intolerance still exists for
many minority groups, and to legalize same sex marriage would be taking a step
closer to a nation free from prejudice. Same sex
couples should not have to hide who they are as it is supposed to be land of
free. Denying their marry right means denying their basic rights such as
hospital visitation rights, social security benefits, healthcare and joint
taxes. In addition, people claim that it is against Bible or Quran but actually
Bible has lead to the slaughter of more people than all wars combined in the
name of God and throughout the history people have used Biblical to validate
slavery. Therefore, people should not be guided by something which is already
sinful. Gay marriage should not be judged as Harvey Milk says “It takes no compromise to give people their
rights...it takes no money to respect the individual. It takes no political
deal to give people freedom. It takes no survey to remove repression.”
