Gay Marriage | Teen Ink

Gay Marriage

March 11, 2012
By Mariah Williams BRONZE, Carson City, Nevada
Mariah Williams BRONZE, Carson City, Nevada
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

The constitution protects equality and liberty rights for all people. People judge other people about the things they do in their lives. Gay marriage should be allowed in every state because it’s what the person wants to do not what the state wants. What people may not realize is judging other people without knowing them or not knowing anything about their life isn’t fair. Gay people may want to get married so that it is easier for them to adopt children. Foster homes state that any one parent is “fit” to be a parent no matter if you are single, Married, Gay or Lesbian. I am not against gay marriage it’s the person’s life not ours. My opinion to gay marriage and same sex couples is its no one else's business if two men or two women want to get married. Two people of the same sex should be able to show their compassion for each other.


Denying against the fact of gay and lesbian couples is not only against the people’s constitutional rights, but it shows discrimination against them. The U.S. Supreme Court declared in 1974’s Cleveland Board of Education that the, "Freedom of personal choice in matters of marriage and family life is one of the liberties protected by the Due Process Clause.”U.S. District wrote on Aug. 4, 2010 that Prop. 8 in California banning gay marriage were "unconstitutional under both the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses.” The Equal Protection Clause commands that “No State shall deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." Protection of laws state that the idea that laws and legal proceedings must be fair .The Constitution guarantees that the government cannot take away a person's basic rights to life, liberty or property, without due process of law.

Same sex couples make it easier to adopt children. There is over 100,000 children waiting to be adopted just in the U.S. alone. For same sex couples to be able to adopt the number of children waiting to be adopted would go down. A study found that children with lesbian mothers were rated higher socially and academically than children of heterosexual parents. Also, they had fewer social problems. Another study shows that children of gay fathers were, "As well-adjusted as those adopted by heterosexual parents.”

People say that divorce rates would go up because states legalize gay marriage. Massachusetts however, was the first state that legalized gay marriage in 2004 and four years later they had the lowest divorce rate in the country. Its divorce rate declined 21% between 2003 and 2008. Alaska was the first to modify its constitution to prohibit gay marriage in 1998. Alaska saw a 17.2% increase in the divorce rate once they prohibited gay marriage. The seven states that prohibited gay marriage had the highest divorce rates between 2003-2008. Marriage in today’s time gets divorced two and a half times more than they did 20 years ago and four times 50 years ago. Between 40 and 60% of all new marriages will end in a divorce. Within the first five years of being married about 20% will get divorced. But within the first 10 years 30% of marriages will end and get a divorce. About 25% of kids 16 and younger will live with a stepparent. Therefore, this shows that it’s not just gay or lesbian couples that will divorce. Same sex couples should receive the same benefits of marriage as opposite sex couples.

In conclusion to this is it is the persons place to pick what they would like to do in their life. Yes, I understand that people don’t like seeing two men or two women holding hands or kissing but really what is the difference of seeing that and seeing a man and a woman holding hands or kissing? It’s not right if states prohibit gay marriage because it’s against people constitutional rights. The meaning of marriage is a legal or religious ceremony that celebrates the decision of two people to live as a married couple. In the definition of marriage it never states that it has to be a man and a woman. The only thing it says is that it has to be two people celebrating their decision to be married. That says that same sex marriage is not going against the definition of marriage.


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