Marriage is much more than merely a commitment to love one another. Marriage entitles financial responsibility, as well as authorized financial benefits. It is the institution that provides automatic legal protection for the spouse, including medical visitation, inheritance of a deceased spouse's property, as well as pension and other rights. Society has become accustom to what they believe is "normal" by their traditions and religious beliefs. Many people believe that same-sex marriage is not "normal." The simple fact is that banning same-sex marriage is discrimination. Marriage is the basic human right that should not be denied to anyone. Marriage among minorities has come a long way in becoming accepted as "normal" in the eyes of society. Interracial marriage was prohibited, and unacceptable in the United States, until the Supreme Court ruled such bans unconstitutional in 1967. There is no reason that the federal government, or anyone for that matter, should restrict marriage to a predefined heterosexual relationship. Because it is the right of the homosexual legally, socially, and economically, matrimony between lesbian and gay coup

an institution is already threatened by divorce and by the erosion of religion and family

2 Feb 1997, late ed. eastern ed., sec. 13NJ: 7

In the same manner, Professor Barbara J. Cox, of California Western School of Law, reveals;

preserve the Judeo-Christian tradition, which deems homosexuality aberrant. Marriage as

A great deal of society believes that it is offensive to even see homosexuals together. There is no question that homosexuals have historically been the objects of vicious and sustained hostility. There have been several cases in which people have gone as far as "gay bashing", or acting violently against gay couples, because they were seen holding hands in public. Still homosexual couples have continued with their beliefs, only to be forced to concentrate into areas such as San Francisco, Ft. Lauderdale, and Montrose in Houston, trying to find peace and acceptance in society. It is evident, by the powerful and responsible positions of many gay men and women, that their sexual orientation clearly has no relation to a person's ability to perform in society. The fact is that the case against same-sex marriage is that people are simply unaccustomed to it. Bigotry and hatred still exist in our society, and traditionally people fear what is strange and unfamiliar to them, therefore robbing homosexuals of their place in America of having the choice to marry their loved ones.

Because our country has been founded on the Constitution, in which all men are created equal; we cannot deny the basic human and legal right of marriage to a class of individuals due to their sexual preference. Banning same-sex marriage has already been declared a violation of the constitution in the state of Hawaii. The case began in 1991 when three same-sex couples who had been denied marriage licenses, by the Hawaii Department of Health, brought a lawsuit to the state court against the director of the department. Hawaii law required couples wishing to marry

Likewise, Chris Ryan, president of the Utah Log Cabin Club, a group of gay republicans, said, "All we want are the legal rights that go along with marriage." He also mentioned visiting a partner in the hospital, inheriting property, providing insurance coverage, filing a joint tax return, and distributing assets in a divorce (Dunlap 18). Ryan wants all of the things that should be entitled to him. It is unfair that only heterosexuals can benefit from this economic government support. Just because the majority of society has not felt the effects of the beneficial neglect that homosexuals have struggled with for so long, does not justify our government in not taking action in correcting this problem.

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Approximate Word count = 2521
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)