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Legalizing Same Sex Marriage

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Legalizing Same Sex Marriage
Legalizing Same Sex Marriage

Our country’s forefathers made a promise to create a free country and give the rights to the people. Are they going to live up to that promise? I support same sex marriage and I believe that everyone should be given the freedom to marry whomever they chose, including man and man, or woman and woman. Same sex marriage was first legalized in the state of Massachusetts in 2004. It then led to the legalization of same sex marriage in eight other states, including Washington and New York. Only one year after legalizing same sex marriage in New York, their economy increased by 259 million dollars, just from celebrations and wedding purchases. This shows that legalizing same sex marriage is not only good for people; it is also good for the state’s economy.

I don’t believe that opposite-sex and same-sex relationships are the same, but I do believe, with growing numbers of Americans, that the time for denigrating or stigmatizing same-sex relationships is over. Whatever one’s definition of marriage, legally recognizing gay and lesbian couples and their children is a victory for basic fairness. Legalizing same sex marriage would make the U.S. a better country. Same sex marriage would show that America does give the rights to the men and women who live in this country, to marry someone of the same gender, to stand up for what people believe in, and to create a better economy. The president of the United States, Barack Obama, explained that the gay couples he has met that are raising children as their own have created normal, caring families and his beliefs are that gay couples should get married and shouldn’t feel pained because they feel less of a citizen because they can’t marry the person they love.

Regardless of how completely their lives are intertwined or how deeply they care for each other, individuals in same-sex relationships frequently are treated like strangers under the law and none are afforded full equality in this country. This unequal treatment causes concrete and disturbing harm. The impact is greatest for those couples with children, fewer financial resources, people of color, senior citizens and those with less access to education. In addition, the government's denial of legal statuses and protections available to different-sex couples brands lesbians and gay men as second class. Lambda Legal, the Nation's oldest and largest legal organization working for the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, and people with HIV/AIDS, will continue to seek an end to bias and access to civil marriage so that same-sex couples in every state have the same choices as other couples, including whether or not to marry.

I support gay marriage because I believe that every person should be allowed to marry whomever they choose and that allowing gay marriages creates jobs and strengthens the economy of states that have legalized the unions. Whether man or woman, black or white, gay or straight, they are all created equal and should be treated equal. Even though a man and woman’s relationship is the only way to create the next generation, I still believe a man should be able to marry a man, and a woman able to marry a woman so that everyone has the fundamental freedom of marriage.

Resources: http://gaymarriage.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=001607
http://gaymarriage.procon.org/

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