Gay Marriage
Homosexuals should be allowed to marry because the disallowance of it violates their constitutional rights. Marriage is an institution long recognized by our government under the right to pursue happiness, and denying that right to any couple, regardless of gender, is unconstitutional. This argument, though, is not disputed. In fact, none of the arguments raised in opposition to the allowance of homosexual marriages takes into account the constitutional rights afforded to all humans. The arguments are only in relation to the possible repercussions (real or imagined) of granting these rights.Our nation was built and has always been based on the fundamental principles of freedom expressed in the Declaration of Independence and through our Constitution. The opponents of homosexual marriage need to remember what freedom means to America, and understand the significance of setting a precedent that denies that freedom. The Supreme Court has long recognized that the institution of marriage is one of the rights guaranteed to all Americans by our Constitution. Banning same-sex marriage is discriminatory. Marriage is a basic human right and should not be denied to any individual. At various times in U.S. history, other minorities
ried; are you related to the person you intend to marry; and are you straight? It's that last question that rankles. When civil law already permits the delinquent, the divorced, the imprisoned, the sterile, and the insane to marry, it seems revealing that it draws the line at homosexuals (Sullivan “State” 18). ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Supporting the civil union while opposing marriage is an incoherent position, based more on sentiment than on reason, more on prejudice than principle. Marriage, under any interpretation of American constitutional law, is among the most basic civil rights. "Separate but equal" was a failed and pernicious policy with regard to race; it will be a failed and pernicious policy with regard to sexual orientation. The many advances of recent years, the "domestic partnership" laws passed in many cities and states, the generous package of benefits finally granted in Hawaii, the breakthrough in Vermont--should not be thrown out. But neither can they be accepted as a solution, as some straight liberals and gay pragmatists seem to want. In fact, these half-measures, far from undermining the case for complete equality, only sharpen it. For there are no arguments for the civil union that do not apply equally to marriage. To endorse one but not the other, to concede the substance of the! Sullivan, Andrew. "Let Gays Marry." Newsweek 3 June 1996: 26. ---. "State of the Union - Why "Civil Union" Isn't Marriage." The New Republic 8 May 2000: 18. lives and have identities. Marriage viewed as a symbolic event, enacts, institutionalizes, and ritualizes the social meaning of heterosexuality. Part of the attraction of marriage for some heterosexuals, is that it confers status. One of the ways it does this is by distinguishing such people from homosexuals. If you remove that cultural status, you further weaken an already beleaguered ins
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1305
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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