To me, a person being gay isn’t weird or gross or different because I have grown up around openly gay people. I didn’t know that people of different sexual orientations wasn’t the norm until after I had moved to a small town in Minnesota. As I’ve gotten older in this small, conservative town, I’ve become more and more outspoken on marriage equality. I’m going to talk about the evolution of the marriage equality movement, the Constitution, whether sexuality is a choice, and “traditional” marriage and family. Everyone should have the right to marry who they love.

The marriage equality movement really erupted in the late 80s early 90s with the Baehr v. Lewin case in Hawaii in 1993, according to Freedom to Marry’s website. This case states that denying marriage to same-sex couples violates the Equal Protection Law in Hawaii. This was the first case that really started another civil rights movement in the United States. Since then, there have been many cases either denying or granting marriage rights in over ten states. But in 1999, California passed a domestic partnership law that granted some, not all, marriage rights to same-sex couples. In 2004, Massachusetts became the first state to allow same-sex marriage. 37 states have passed same-sex marriage since then. In April 2015, same-sex marriage will be brought to the Supreme Court of the United States, according to Business Insider’s website. The court is likely to be in favor of same-sex marriage. But because of what the Bible says about same-sex couples, many people are against even the idea of people of the same gender being in a relationship.

In the Constitution, it states that the United States will never have a set religion. Because of this amendment, states cannot make laws based on religion. Lately states have been creating religious freedom laws which allow privately owned companies to discriminate against people that even “look” or “seem” gay. This is the kind of thing that needs to be stopped. A person cannot seem gay. Just like a person can’t seem straight. Sexual orientation is no one’s business. It is also not a choice. 

There have been many studies that have tried to figure out if homosexuality is chosen or not. One study, according to the Huffington Post, states that homosexuality is a genetic mutation that changes chemicals in the brain. These brains chemicals have to do with sexuality. This study also talked about how homosexuality sometimes seems to run in families. Based on this research I think that it’s pretty safe to say that sexualtiy is not a choice. A person cannot make themselves attracted to someone. Believe me, I’ve tried. The love I see between my cousin and her wife is real. But people still continue to make up arguments, and the latest one seems to be “traditional” marriage and family.

People make the argument that marriage equality would ruin the concept of “traditional” marriage and family. Based on what has been going on in Hollywood with people like Britney Spears and Kim Kardashian who have kind of butchered the idea of “traditional” marriage, I believe it is no longer an argument. My grandma has been with her girlfriend for over 20 years. They are my family and they always will be. No one’s family is traditional. Sure there’s the cookie cutter mom and dad, two kids. But honestly, who has that. Everyone’s family is different and not traditional so no one can make the argument that “tradition” is being broken, because “tradition” never existed.
People are who they are and nothing can stop that. Not even crazy, discriminatory laws that seem to have started popping up. The marriage equality movement has been going on for a long time and will soon come to an end with the Supreme Court’s ruling in April, 2015. The marriage equaltiy movement, laws, whether sexualtiy is a choice or not, and “traditional” marriage have all been big topics and arguments is this civil rights movement. People love who they love. And no one can stop that.