The Ongoing American Debate

The issue of gay rights and in particular gay marriage has become one of the most highly debated topics in the United States over the past several decades. With so many schools of thought on what is the right decision regarding the matter, it makes it extremely difficult to divide the issue into merely “black and white.” It really isn’t so clear cut, but for the purposes of discussing both sides of the issue I will simply separate the beliefs as either “for” or “against” and go deeper into the divisions of each belief within each side of the matter.

Those that are against the right to gay marriage feel so mostly because of religious issues of morality. They support their arguments with the Bible, claiming that homosexuality is a sin and cannot be tolerated. While some religious extremists believe that gays are “sinners” and should be punished for their sexual preference, most believe simply that the homosexuals themselves are not bad people but that they still do not have the right to be married to those of the same gender. They claim that by allowing the freedom of gays and lesbians to marry we are only further destroying the family unit that has already been altered drastically in the past 50 years. Other anti-gay marriage supporters have observed other nations who have allowed the freedom of gay marriage and have seen the so-called “devastating effects” of doing so. Furthermore, there is also the belief that the freedom to marry is not a protected right in the United States Constitution. The freedom to marry is not a government-given freedom. It is a religious and ceremonial event that is not a guaranteed right to all Americans.

Those that are for the freedom of gay marriage argue this for several reasons. They may say that it is part of every Americans rights to be married however and to whomever they choose. They wonder why anyone else should care who they choose to marry, it isn’t effecting anyone else. They may claim that the Constitution does in fact protect every Americans right to marriage. Some supporters argue that the Bible does not even condemn homosexuality, or at least the homosexuality that we know today. When using the Bible and the Constitution to back up your arguments, it all comes down to personal interpretation. So many people can read the same words and understand them in two completely different ways. There is even a school of thought that says that if gay marriage was allowed, all the various taxes and fees that are tied to marriage and weddings would provide a great amount economic benefit.

The political positions of government officials in the issue of gay marriage is pretty much right down the middle with a few exceptions. In recent years there has been a huge incease in the raising and spending of money in both parties to win support in this issue. In the 2008 Presidential Campaign (click here and here for more), mostly all Republican representatives believe that “marriage is a union between a man and a woman” and with the exception of a few candidates, including McCain who seem to be moving back and forth, do not support same-sex civil unions. Democrats, on the other hand, tend to overall support gays and lesbians when it comes to marriage and civil unions. Presidential candidates, Clinton and Kucinich, both opposed a constitutional amendment that would define marriage as a union between a man and woman and Gravel is strongly in support of gay marriage. Most other Democratic candidates, though not in support of gay marriage are in full support of same-sex civil unions and gay domestic partner benefits. Overall, there are only a very minimal number of candidates that are in full support of gay marriage. Most are either just in support of same-sex civil unions or against both marriage and civil unions between gays and lesbians.

As far as the American public is concerned, there has been a steady shift in the numbers favoring gay marriage rights in recent years. Bans on same-sex marriage performed very poorly in the November 2006 elections. The percent of voters supporting gay marriage bans dropped 9 percent from it’s previous figure of 71% in the 2004 election. While the national government has yet to pass any amendment regarding marriage, states are taking steps themselves to further gay rights. Twenty seven states have passed marriage protection amendments up to this point and more may do so in the near future. Even with this decreasing amount of support for gay marriage bans, the percentage of Americans that still are against the legalization of gay marriage is 61%.

I myself, on this issue of gay marriage, still stand with the 2/3 of Americans who believe that it is not something that should be legalized. I feel this way do to my religious beliefs and simply feel that it is an issue of morality. I do not believe that gays and lesbians are bad people. I just believe that we must do all in our power to safeguard the family unit based on a marriage between a man and a woman and nothing else. Romney said, "Every child has a right to have a mother and father.” This is the proven best way to raise children and should be insured that every child recieves this benefit of true families.