Kirby
Otemuyiwa
Communication Arts
21 February 2012
Gay Marriage: Yes or No
Among other things, gay marriage is one of the most controversial issues society is dealing with. Whether people respect gays or whether they hate them with a fiery passion, this issue has been big for the last 10-20 years. A lot has changed since then, but the issue still stands: Should same-sex marriage be allowed in the United States?
One of the 2 main reasons people are against gay marriage is because it is against their religion. According to Seth Forman from Daily News in the article, “Five arguments against gay marriage: Society must brace for corrosive change,” the number one reason against gay marriage is religion. Catholics and Orthodox Jews are against this overall change of making gay marriage legal. Also, 70% of African Americans don’t agree with this change. Forman asks, “Have [these groups of people] become the new Ku Klux Klan?” Have they? They are doing everything the KKK did, just with a different group of individuals. On that note, Robert Stengel wrote in 1997 in TIME Magazine, later published in the book Marriage and Divorce that, “Christian right takes this belief a step further, suggesting that gay activists are in fact attempting to poison the youth of America with same-sex propaganda.”(142-43) He is saying that Christians take the overall issue of gay marriage a lot further than it needs to go, and that in their opinion gay activists are filling people’s minds with persuasive arguments.
The second reason against gay marriage is the rights of children. People are saying that without one of the two gender parents, kids can’t develop regularly and it can lead to a lot of emotional issues. But, April Martin writes differently. In the book Marriage and Divorce, Martin tells of how in a custody decision, the court has to rule whether or not gay partners are good enough people to take care of that child or children. She also says that overall, adoption agencies are a significant supporter of gay marriage. They “increasingly turn to gay couples to provide loving homes for neglected, abandoned, and disabled children who have nowhere else to go.”(176-77) Agencies everywhere want their children to experience a life they never had or that was taken away from them. Martin herself is a lesbian and believes that she and her partner deserve to adopt a child who needs to be loved and cherished.
Robert Stengel wrote in the book Marriage and Divorce from TIME Magazine that, “Marriage is for people who love; homosexuals love.” He’s asking: If straight people can be in love and marry, then why shouldn’t gays? Yes, they can be in love, but they aren’t allowed to be married. Their love may be stronger than most straight couples, but that doesn’t matter. They do the same things as straights, just in a different way. Also, Stengel says that not allowing gay marriage is violating the rights we obtain from the Declaration of Independence, which are, “…one’s unalienable rights to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.” If gay marriage is denied, then it denies access to their civil and human rights. Their own rights that everyone else around them has are taken away. Once they get their rights back, their own idea of true happiness can be achieved.
Starbucks is currently under fire for its public support for gay marriage, according to Frank Bruni of New York Times. Steven Andrews, the president of USA Christian Ministries has called for a boycott all across the country. He says that people “can follow Satan if they want to,” but that Christians and others who believe in God shouldn’t “join them on their caffeinated road to hell.” Microsoft and Amazon have also come out with their public support for gays. Will there eventually be a national boycott of these companies too?
Six states and the nation’s capital have laws saying gay marriage is legal. Those states are: New York, Connecticut, Iowa, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Massachusetts. Washington D.C also has similar laws. Recently, Washington announced that the legislation for gay marriage has passed and will be signed by Governor Christine Gregoire in the next couple of weeks. But there are Christian conservatives that are not pleased by this. They are trying to get enough signatures to postpone the law’s application. In California, things are really changing. In the article, “California Gay Marriage Ban Unconstitutional” by Lisa Leff tells of how Proposition 8 was declared unconstitutional by the federal Court of Appeals on February 7, 2012. This issue is under consideration for the Supreme Court. The overall decision was from a panel of 3 judges, and with a majority of 2-1, they said Proposition 8 is a violation of the civil rights of gays and lesbians. Also, the panel said that there is no evidence that former Chief Judge Vaughn Walker was biased and should have told someone before he issued the original ruling that Prop 8 was unconstitutional that he was gay and was in a long-term relationship. From June 16, 2008 to November 4, 2008, gays could legally marry in the state of California. On November 4, 2008, California voters passed Proposition 8 with 52% of the vote. An estimated 18,000 gay and lesbian couples “tied the knot” in the time Prop 8 was turned down to when it took effect. (Leff) Now, who knows what is going to happen in California.
Gay marriage is an issue that has been going back a forth for many years. Since the start of this debate, the country has been divided into believers and non-believers, agree and disagree. If this continues to sweep up in the country’s newspapers and television with news of new laws or boycotts, the overall issue of same sex marriage will never be resolved.
Works Cited
Current Controversies “Marriage and Divorce.”San Diego, California: Greenhaven Press, 1997.
Print.
Forman, Seth “Five arguments against gay marriage: Society must brace for corrosive
change” New York Daily News 23 June 2011: 7 February 2012
Leff, Lisa. “California Gay Marriage Ban Unconstitutional” TIME Magazine 7 February 2012
Martin, April “Title of Article” Title of Magazine 2003: Print
Stengel, Robert “Title of Article” TIME Magazine 1997: Print
