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Gay
Marriage Should be Allowed |
Posted:
05.17.04
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Massachusetts high school student Adam Piel argues that same-sex
marriages are necessary to protect the civil rights of all Americans.
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 One
in ten Americans today is homosexual. It is time that we as a
country stop ignoring the elephant sitting in the corner and address
this significant minority. The homosexual citizens of the United
States of America are demanding rights, and it is not our place
or the place of the lawmakers of this country to deny them the
right they are claiming: the right of marriage.
In a country where more than 50 percent of all marriages end
in divorce, we as voters and citizens should be encouraging the
creation of relationships and stable homes. In the past, people
have spoken out against homosexuality, saying it is a lifestyle
without commitments and condemning its promiscuous nature. In
this case, we are dealing with people who are begging to be allowed
to pledge their devoted love to one another. These people are
asking to legally commit. These loving relationships will do nothing
but make our country a better place.
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Gay marriage
won't diminish heterosexual marriage |
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Some argue that legalizing homosexual marriages will take away
from the sanctity of their own marriages. This is absurd. These
people are asking for a right that will affect their personal
lives and their personal lives only. No one will be forced to
attend same-sex weddings. No one will be forced to marry someone
of his or her own gender. No one will be forced to even associate
with homosexual married couples.
The religious platform against gay marriage is also very exaggerated
and feeble. The only place that the Bible itself speaks against
homosexuality is in the book of Leviticus, right there with the
law stating that anyone who touches a pig's skin should be burned
at the stake and the one that says it's alright to own slaves
as long as they are from neighboring countries. It is very inconsistent
that people take this passage in the Bible so literally and ignore
its equally strict associated laws. The New Testament makes no
comment whatsoever on homosexuality.
Even if the Bible said a hundred times that homosexuality was
wrong, it should have no bearing on our law making, with the separation
of church and state. Jewish and Christian tradition have no purpose
in determining what rights the citizens of the United States can
and cannot enjoy. We must remind ourselves we are a country full
of monotheists, polytheists and atheists.
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It's not
about 'drawing the line' |
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Another disturbing segment of the anti-gay-marriage argument
is the classic question, "Where will we draw the line?"
Many people have expressed concern that if we allow homosexual
marriage in this country, people will soon be marrying their dogs
or brothers and sisters. There is no evidence at all that any
movement like this has ever or will ever take place. Americans
should be wary whenever hearing the argument, "If we let
this happen then before you know it blank, blank, or blank will
happen." This is not a logical, well-constructed argument.
Gay marriage has nothing to do with bestiality, and certainly
nothing to do with incest. Americans should vote for gay marriage
if they support it, and vote against human to animal marriage
if they do not support that if it ever becomes an issue in the
future. No American should vote against homosexuality because
they are opposed to bestiality.
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Separate
is not equal |
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Financially and legally, homosexuals must be treated fairly.
Now, in hospital situations, a homosexual life partner of 30 years
cannot sign any documents to ratify procedures, or even be allowed
to be with their loved one at all hours. They do not receive the
same financial benefits as heterosexuals if one of them is to
die, and they are not viewed as a couple by the government.
There are over 1,100 federal laws that pertain to marriage. Civil
unions only apply to state marriage laws, not to federal ones,
and then only to the states where the union occurred. Life partners
without gay marriage wouldn't be able to use any of them.
Gay marriage must be legalized. Laws and amendments are meant
to protect the citizens of this nation, to regulate financial
issues and to keep everyone safe. Laws are meant to insure rights
and to secure equality. Laws are not meant to oppress. Laws are
not meant to segregate. Laws are not meant to dictate whom Americans
can love and spend their lives with.
We cannot allow this nation to settle with civil unions. Quite
simply civil unions are separate from marriage but with equal
benefits. Separate but equal. This system would not be unlike
Jim Crow in the south, and as we clearly saw there, separate but
equal is an oxymoron, and will never work.
--Adam
Piel is a junior who writes for the opinions section of his school
newspaper, "The Smoke Signal."
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American schools and financial aid should be only for legal citizens of the United States. There should be no exceptions to this.
