Why Should Same-Sex Couples Be Married?

Why Should Same-Sex Couples Be Married?

As United States citizens we are all entitled to our own opinions. One of the great attributes of this country is our freedom of speech. "The 1st amendment of the Constitution states that a person's religious beliefs or a lack of there for must be protected. Legislatures also cannot discriminate against marriages of the minority party which, homosexual people fall into that category"(Strasser).There is also an amendment stating there is separation of church and state, so you cannot declare that a marriage is a gift from God. Even though the subject of homosexual marriage is still up for debate. The progress for years over whether equal rights and equal protection against discrimination should be extended to homosexuals. Recently this has expanded into the area of marriage. The topic of homosexual marriages is a prevalent issue today. Even in the nation's capital representatives are finding ways to make this alliance unlawful. This topic has been debated bringing up many valid points, but the fact of the matter is that some people believe homosexual marriages are wrong and we as a country should not condone such acts. Marriage is the institution whereby men and women are joined in a special kind of social and legal dependence for the purpose of founding and maintaining a family. Although some same sex marriages may be capable of coping financially the negative influence on children raised in their household has been statistically proven which not true. America frowns upon the union of same sex relationships and restricts marriage to one man and one woman. Many critics hold opposing views, arguing that same sex marriages harm no one and that to deny them the right to marry is unconstitutional.

The younger generation seems to agree more with the states legalizing gay marriage than opposing the matter unlike the older generation due to morals and religious beliefs. We are all human beings and everyone has their own imperfections it shouldn't be our right to judge, or to take matters into our own hands. If a man and a woman get married no one seems to care. They are two people who feel affection for one another and those two people want to start a family together. If we change the scenario and a man and a man, or a woman and a woman, try to get married it will cause uproar. They are not allowed to be married or raise a family together.
If marriage is about reproduction, then infertile couples would not be allowed to marry.

The ability or desire to create offspring has never been a qualification for marriage. Gay marriage will make it easier for same-sex couples to adopt children." In the US alone over 100,000 children are waiting to be adopted"(Rauch). Gay marriage can bring financial gain to state and local government’s .Revenue from gay marriage comes from marriage licenses higher income taxes and decreases in cost for state benefit programs. Allowing same-sex couples to marry will give them access to basic rights such as hospital visitation during an illness, taxation and inheritance rights, access to family health coverage, and protection in the event of the relationship ending.

The definition of love is a very strong affection: an intense feeling of tender affection and compassion. If gay people feel this way then why shouldn’t they be able to be married? If they are happy with each other said persons should be able to marry.
California, Hawaii, New York, and the District of Columbia all have domestic partnership laws and civil partnerships meaning it is almost a marriage without the matrimony. Civil partnerships also give couples the ability to have joint bank accounts live in the same house, and pay bills together. Homosexual couples are not entitled to this in most states.
Marriage benefits should be available to all couples no matter what. In places where gay marriages are banned, the gay couples are not able to have the same benefits as others. When filing for health care or insurance through a job, gay couples are not able to add each other on. Most loved ones such as a spouse or a child in a straight marriage, can make life altering decisions in a hospital if need be. Since gay marriage is not legal said person’s spouse is not recognized as their spouse and care is delayed.

Who would be affected if homosexual marriage was legalized? No one. Everyone believes there is one person who is out there to love us homosexuals feel the same way. Parenthood is a benefit of marriage and gay couples cannot have children by themselves, without some type of help, so they look to adoption agencies. In some cases gay couples are put on longer waiting lists or denied completely. There are other benefits to being married as well, such as tax breaks. When we hit our mid-thirties, we wanted only true friendships to friendships that were durable. This is a perfect example of matrimony and what it should be based on. A marriage is the legal or religious ceremony that brings about the decision of two people to live as a married couple, including the accompanying social festivities. If this is a marriage why are homosexuals not included in this?

Even though gay marriage should be legalized, some people have different beliefs. In most religions including, Christianity, Islam, and Orthodox Judaism same sex preferences are a sin. People believe in procreation to repopulate the world, but are against gay marriage and homosexuals adopting children because they cannot procreate on their own. If this is a stand point on making or breaking gay marriage then only people who are fertile and want to procreate should be able to get marriage. America has never really given gay marriage a chance, but they believe gay marriage will weaken its institution by leading to high divorce rates. . One reason legislatures are denying gay marriage is because they are fearful that opening the door to allowing gay marriages will open the door to polygamy as well. This would also mean reopening cases about polygamy in the past which they are not willing to do. Others are fearful for children’s futures and they fear being raised by two fathers or by two mothers may cause children’s mental capacities.

Even though to most people gay marriage should be illegal and should stay in its current state, I believe we need to change the world for future generations. We feared that different religions were going to clash, but now all of the religions coexist. White people had Black and Hispanic slaves, but we overcame the odds and now White men, Black men, and Hispanic men can be equals. If it is possible to overcome such fierce obstacles then we can overcome the boundary obstructing gay marriages and straight marriages alike. Gay marriage should be legalized for these reasons. Evolution will always continue and at any given point in time, something will occur that we will not like in this world, but we can overcome this. Gay marriage is a controversial issue that people have been fighting for years and it has finally come to the surface. We should take charge of it.

State legislatures have been involved in the public debates about how to define marriage and whether the recognition of marriage should be limited to relationships involving one man and one woman or those same-sex couples should also be titled as marriage. State legislatures also have gone both ways in this debate: either defending marriage laws and constitutional or going the opposite direction adopting laws allowing same sex marriage.

Most states have adopted the prohibitions of same-sex marriage. Most states have done so by adopting defense of marriage" language that defines marriage in their state constitution and/or state law in a way similar to the language in the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) —"the word 'marriage' means only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife."(Rauch) Other states prohibit same sex marriages or marriages between persons of the same sex or gender. Twenty nine states have placed that language in their state constitutions .A further eight states have statutory language adopting the restrictive language.

Nine states and the District of Columbia currently allow same-sex marriages. In Massachusetts Connecticut, and Iowa, the states’ highest courts ruled that the state constitution required that same-sex couples be accorded the same marriage rights as opposite-sex couples. In Vermont New Hampshire, the District of Columbia and New York l have passed law changes that allow same-sex marriages. Same-sex marriages are currently being performed in those states.

Seven states have also expanded the legal rights available to spouses in same-sex relationships while also limit marriage to opposite sex couples with civil unions and domestic partnerships. Five states adopted civil unions available to both same sex and opposite-sex couples. Civil unions provide legal recognition to the couple’s relationship while providing legal rights to the partners similar to those accorded to spouses in marriages. Three states have adopted broad domestic partnerships that grant nearly all state-level spousal rights to unmarried couples. Domestic partnerships are available to both same-sex and opposite-sex couples. Three states and D.C. provide limited domestic partnerships that provide some state level spousal rights to unmarried couples, including same-sex couples.

Gay and lesbian same-sex couples whether married or not are denied many benefits that the federal government provides to heterosexual married couples.” There are over one thousand federal law for which marriage status is a factor. These laws of rights, protections, and benefits to married couples. Partners in same-sex couples cannot receive these important benefits -- from Social Security survivor benefits to federal tax benefits to federal employee health and retirement benefits.”(Strasser)

Although a few states now allow gay and lesbian couples to marry, the majority of states still don't recognize marriages between partners of the same sex. California allows same-sex couples to register as domestic partners. Gay or lesbian same-sex couples, whether unmarried, married or registered as domestic partners are not permitted to enjoy the federal marriage benefits provided to heterosexual married couples. The federal government only respects marriages between a man and a woman. This means that even if a same-sex couple's marriage is recognized by their home state, it is not recognized for the purposes of accessing marriage benefits in federal law. For example a gay married couple in Massachusetts can take advantage of state laws conferring the benefits of marriage but not any of the benefits provided by federal law.

The heterosexual spouses of a deceased veterans are entitled to benefits, including health care, death pensions, educational assistance, home loan guarantees, vocational training, and bereavement counseling.
Spouses of living military personnel may be eligible for health care; family separation pay, and relocation assistance, Same-sex spouses are not welcomed to these benefits. Many of the employment benefits that the federal government provides to its employees and their families are tied to marriage status. These benefits, which are part of the employee's compensation, are denied to gay and lesbian employees.

Many immigration benefits are also in the marital status. For example foreigners may be able to receive legal residency, and later citizenship status, when married to a U.S. citizen. Non-U.S. citizens who are in same-sex marriages or partnerships are not welcomed to this benefit. This is true even if the couple has a valid marriage certificate from a country that allows same-sex marriages.

Married heterosexual couples can get a big financial boost from certain Social Security benefit programs that do not apply to same-sex couples. For some gay and lesbian partners are denied all of these benefits can mean spending later years in poverty.
A surviving spouse of a worker able to receive to Social Security retirement or disability benefits may be entitled to receive retirement benefits based on the deceased spouse's earning record.
Same-sex gay and lesbian couples cannot take advantage of federal tax benefits upon married heterosexual couples.
Filing a joint return offers advantages over separate returns. Many same-sex couples lose thousands of dollars per year because they have to file separate tax returns with the IRS.
Same-sex married couples cannot take advantage of an estate planning benefits available to married couples of the same sex.

Federal law exempts a certain amount of money from federal estate taxes and federal gift taxes for all property left to a surviving spouse The surviving spouse does not pay taxes on any amount she receives from her deceased spouse that's under the exemption limit.

Married couples can combine their personal estate tax exemptions. This means that the second spouse to die can leave property worth up to $10 million free from federal estate tax. Gay or lesbian couples do not get the "portability," so that the second spouse to die can leave only $5 million tax-free.
Life estate trusts.
“Heterosexual married couples can create life estate trusts, including
QTIP trusts and QDOT trusts, which provide distinct tax advantages upon the death of one spouse. “For example, the QTIP trust allows surviving spouses to use trust property tax-free in certain circumstances. The QDOT trust allows a non-U.S. citizen surviving spouses to postpone paying any estate taxes above the exemption amount.”(Raunch)

There is no such thing as traditional marriage. Given the modern and ancient examples of family arrangement based on polygamy, communal child -rearing, the use of concubines and prostitution, heterosexuals can be considered unnatural in evolutionary terms. America is the land of the free, but we are not free to marry are gender of choice. Many people try to be tolerant say that gays should have an institution for defining their partnerships legally, but they don’t want gays to be included in what they see as the heterosexual only institution of marriage. They want gay marriage to be called something else, just to define it as being different. Gay and transgender individuals continue to discrimination in the workplace.” Studies show that anywhere from 15 percent to 43 percent of gay people have experienced some form of discrimination and harassment at the workplace. Moreover, a staggering 90 percent of transgender workers report some form of harassment or mistreatment on the job” (Rauch). These workplace abuses pose a real and immediate threat to the economic security of gay and transgender workers. Imagine waking up to a world completely opposite from the world we went to sleep in, meaning gay people is straight, and straight people are now gay. We are put in the shoes of someone being ridiculed and judged every day. Do you think the newly straight people would fight for the newly homosexuals rights? Gay marriage should be legalized because it is uncivilized and unmerited our civil rights and the Constitution gives us many liberties. One of our civil liberties is the pursuit of happiness, which homosexuals people are not allowed to chase. They cannot be married to the person they love and it violates their freedoms.

Our government was set up from the beginning, as an instution whose goal was the preservation of the rights of its citizens. Nowhere in either the constitution or the declaration of indepdence is there outlined a governmental responsibility or power to reward behaviors the government or the masses like. Our government’s job is to protect prejudices of the masses, as it is doing in this case. It is the government’s responsibility not to uphold in this case the prejudiced will of the people, no matter how much of a majority they constitute, but to defend the rights of its people.