Essay: Gay Marriage: The Next Civil Right Movement

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In the honor of LGBT Pride Month, I would like to upload an essay I have written during my Senior year of high school about why Gay Marriage should remain legalize in the United States because before it wasn't sadly. But, thankfully now it is legal, thanks to our former President Barack Obama and the Supreme Court Justice Judges. I'm so glad that Gay Marriage is legalized because everyone has the right to fall in love and have a great love story. I'm glad that our country finally gave them the right where they can do that. They have the right to marry whoever they want to marry and raise children, if they want children in the future. I really believe Gay Marriage should remain legalize and this essay I wrote during my Senior year of high school will tell you why.

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Synopsis

Gay Marriage has been a controversy that has been going on for many centuries. It has been officially legalizing on June 26, 2015. It was the day when Gays and Lesbians finally earn the equality and the rights they deserve as an individual living in the United States, even though the rights were already given to them when the 14th amendment was created in the constitution. This paper outlines the reasons why gay marriage must remain legalize in the United States. Gay marriage helped the government and children in many ways possible, from adoption to paying taxes. Why ban a concept that is benefitting a country financially and socially? The reason because for those opposes this new definition of marriage believes it can affect children by not understanding the perspectives between a male and female, due to living with same-sex parents. Also, it will decrease birth rates in the United States because same-sex couples don’t have the ability to conceive. However, that’s not the case because there has been researching, which proves this opposition towards gay marriage is invalid and the people, who oppose of this concept should realize how gay marriage benefitted the United States as a country.

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“As the judge of this court, I hereby make a decision that this man can’t get married to his boyfriend because it’s uncommon and it’s against the constitution.” Imagine hearing this in court or in any other places that two people who love each other can’t get married and raise a family because they are both from the same sex. Until June 26, 2015, the United States Supreme Court ruled that gay marriage is a right protected by the Constitution in all fifty states. Prior to the Supreme Court decision, same-sex marriage was already legalized in thirty-seven states and Washington, DC, but was banned in the remaining thirteen states. The public opinion about this concept of marriage had shifted greatly over the years, from 27% approval of gay marriage in 1996 to 60% in 2015. However, 39% percent of people still strongly oppose same-sex marriage, but during the early 2000s, over 50% of people opposed same-sex marriages (Masci and Motel).

Many centuries ago, the concept of marriage was based on tradition, meaning two people from the opposite sex were only allowed to marry and live with their spouses. But over time, the concept of marriage changed for everyone; same-sex marriage is currently legalized in all of the states in the United States and many people recognize the idea that marriage isn’t defined as a relationship between a man and a woman. Marriage must remain defined as a relationship between two people, regardless of gender, who love each other and want to be together for eternity. With the new definition of marriage in America, adoption rates will increase; while the financial benefits increase through taxes; and constitutional rights will be better protected.

When same-sex marriage had been legalized, many children from fosters homes and adoption centers had a place to live and a family of their own that would love and care for them. The United States has many children without family members that want to have a family of their own. After gay marriage was legalized, researchers stated that more than 16,000 same-sex couples are raising about an estimated 22,000 adopted children in the United States. Also, the study states adoption rate went up about 8% in 2000, but also increased about 19% or more in 2009 due to gay couples adopting children (Tavernise). (“Lifelong Adoption”). There is an article called “Pediatrics” that states that women that are married to the same sex have less public issues than people who are attracted to the opposite sex in raising kids. The article also said, men who are married to the same gender have children that are comfortable with their relationship and living with them like different sex parents. According to Ezra Klein, the writer of “ Sorry, Justice Scalia…”, “We should be begging gay couples to adopt children.We should see this as a great boon that gay marriages could bring to kids who need nothing more than two loving parents” (“Sorry, Justice Scalia”).

Same-sex marriage allows adopted kids to have the same protection like kids with different gender parents, for example, health insurance, government money, etc. Children need health insurance for an emergency because, without insurance, a child cannot get treated in the hospital because there is no money for the treatment, which will worsen the child’s health. Adopted children getting money from the government are beneficial because they get to pay for college when they get older. Also, they government can give the parents' money to financially support and care for their children. Therefore, it would be beneficial to remain same-sex legalize, in order for orphaned children to find a stable and secure home.

On June 6, 2011, Rick Santorum, who was a Republican presidential candidate, told the citizens of New Hampshire that children will have a better life, if they are raised by a father or mother in prison or with no father or mother at all, then be raised at home by two same gender parents. However, several different studies explained that children of the same gender parents show few differences in achievement, mental health, and social functioning. The kids raised by gay parents may have an advantage of open-mindedness, tolerance, and be a role model for an honest and fair relationship. For example, gay couples are open about their relationship because they are not afraid of what others may say because they have been tolerating discrimination for a while, but that's enough because they realized in order for them to be happy, they have, to be honest about their relationship to the outside world and family (“Why Gay Parents May Be the Best Parents”) (Drexler) (Barabak and Memoli).

Researchers would say that gay parents are more committed and motivated to their kids than the average heterosexual parents because they chose to become parents and take care of kids for the rest of their life. Rarely people will see, same-sex couple becoming parents by accident than the 50% percent of heterosexual couples, who do become parents by accident and end up resenting their child because of it. Finally, a study, conducted by the University of Southern California sociologist Judith Stacey, established that there are no difference between raising children with two heterosexual parents and children with same-sex parents (Pappas) (Stacey and Biblarz). By conducting same-sex marriage in the United States, orphaned children will have a wonderful caring home with motivated and committed parents, who will raise them like they are their own kids, no differently from parents who are opposite sex because parents have many duties when it comes to raising children, but one of them is to love/care for them because it’s part of parenthood. Why deny a child's right to live with people that will love them and will consider taking care of them?

Same-sex marriage helps the government in many ways, like lowering the cost of helpful organizations for the states or paying taxes for financial purposes. In July 2012, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that gay marriage had contributed $259 million dollars to the city's economy, ever since the practice became legal in July 2011. The mayor including himself said, “Marriage equality has made our city more open, inclusive and free -- and it has also helped to create jobs and support our economy.” Also, over the past year, New York City had collected $16 million in tax revenue from same-sex marriages. However, the weddings actually brought the city to its great economic boost, with about 67% of same-sex couples who got married because they have to pay for the wedding reception, catering, hotels, etc (Ellis) (NYC.gov). It is a tremendous amount of money that is going out of their pocket, which is completely worth it to same-sex couples because they are celebrating their love and the government because all the tax money for those items goes to them.

According to a national survey of gay and straight newlyweds conducted by TheKnot.com, gay couples spent an average $9,039 on their weddings, while 31% spent $10,000 or more. Marriage can make an extraordinary difference for gay couples’ financial well-being. Few years ago, two New York Times reporters calculated that even same-sex couples could lose about $500,000 over a lifetime because they can’t get married to each other. As a result, they can not get employees’ spousal health insurance, along with other disadvantages. Therefore, same-sex couples are more likely to be uninsured than heterosexual couples. In addition, marriage helps couples make economic decisions which create both private and social benefits, such as investing for retirement and looking after each other’s health. Not only do same-sex couples want gay marriage to be legalized, big corporations such as Google, Apple, Walt Disney, and etc. wants gay marriage to be legalized because they believe it’s good for business. They signed onto the court briefs related to the Supreme Court arguments over Defense of Marriage Act and California’s Proposition 8. Their employers argued that they wanted to recruit the most creative and productive workers to make their businesses competitive, which includes lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender workers. They wanted their LGBT employees to focus on their jobs and not deal with the inequality that creates problems for their family (Badgett) (Ekholm).

Finally, why deny or end the positive impact that gay marriage has on the economy? The more they commit to each other, the more money the United States gets for their programs, such as, medical organizations, Pre-tax programs, disability and life insurance, and etc. The Congressional Budget Office in 2004, looked at the federal government and saw that same-sex marriage had an impact on Social Security and federal taxes. The CBO discovered that the government will gain about one billion dollars each year for the next ten years by legalizing gay marriage. They estimated that the government would see a small increase in tax revenues from $500 to $700 million dollars annually from 2011 to 2014, depending on the Bush tax cuts. Then, the government would have spent more money on Social Security and the Federal Employees Health Benefits program. Also, the government will save money on safety net programs such as Supplemental Security Income, Medicaid, and Medicare. Gay marriage would reduce spending estimated from $100 million to $200 million dollars for a year from 2010 to 2014 (“The Potential Budgetary Impact of Recognizing Same-Sex Marriages”) (Covert). As gay marriage increases throughout the United States, the government and big industries will keep on gaining a lot of money from tax revenues and have more money left over that would benefit the citizens by providing for health care and having more research facilities.

People that practice same-sex marriage have the right to wed happily in matrimony because same sex people really love each other. People in love have the right to be together no matter what and everyone living in the United States are different and unique in their own way. Gays and lesbians right to marry are protected under the constitution. The United States Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in the 1974 case Cleveland Board of Education v. LaFleur that “freedom of personal choice in matters of marriage and family life is one of the liberties protected by the Due Process Clause.” Also, on August 4, 2010, United States District Judge Vaughn Walker wrote that due to California banning gay marriage, it was “unconstitutional under both the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses. Moreover, Article 16 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights guarantees that men and women, without any prohibition due to race, nationality or religion has the right to marry and have a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during the marriage, and when they both decide to get a divorce (“Perry v. Schwarzenegger”) (“Gay Marriage ProCon.org”).

The Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause, which was ratified in 1868, guarantees equal protection laws to anyone. The clause protects everyone in the United States from capricious and unpleasant class-based discrimination, whether they're black or white, man or woman, gay or straight, native-born or immigrant. It gives everyone as an individual, the right to equal protection of the laws. The federal government doesn’t have the right to discriminate against individual Americans or refuse to follow the Constitution’s prohibition, which implies that the government can’t treat Americans as an inferior second-class citizen (Kendall and Shapiro). The Zablocki v. Redhail case recognized marriage as a fundamental right for the Fourteenth Amendment. Furthermore, the court stated that the right of marriage is a fundamental importance for all individuals and believes that the decision to get married, have the same level of importance as decisions relating to procreation, childbirth, and family relationships (Nussbaum). States that criminalized gay marriages excluded their own citizens from anti-discrimination protections.

On June 26th, 2015, gay marriage was legalized all over the United States by the vote of 5-4. The Supreme Court judges ruled that the 14th amendment must prohibit states from banning gay couple right to be wed. The case that made this happen was Obergefell v Hodges, which started in April of 2015. Justice Anthony Kennedy, who is one of the judges of the Supreme Court, stated, “Excluding same-sex couples from marriage, thus conflicts with a central premise of the right to marry. Without the recognition, stability, and predictability marriage offers, their children suffer the stigma of knowing their families are somehow lesser…” (Kerr). Also, Justice Antonin Scalia implied, “The law can recognize as marriage, whatever sexual attachments and living arrangements it wishes” (Berman).

Some of Supreme Court judges aren't only one who support gay marriage. There is any Presidential candidate that supports the concept of marriage. Those who run as a democrat support gay marriage, no matter what because it’s part of their moral, which they believe is right. Same-sex marriage was always safe under the constitution and both gays and lesbians have the same right to marriage as people from the opposite sex. Even few Supreme Court members and future Presidential leaders, who makes the law in the United States agrees with many other people who believes gay marriage has the right to be legalized all over America because it’s against the law to disobey the constitution, which declares it’s against the law to tell a person who to marry because it’s discrimination and inequality. Also, who wants to be placed as a second class citizen? No one in the United States does because it makes them feel uncomfortable and unwanted in a place that they are supposed to call home. Individual people in the United States live in a democracy, meaning everyone should be equally treated with respect and dignity, regardless of what the law states because it's the right thing to do.

Even though gay marriage has been legalized in the United States. Many citizens living in the United States still opposed the Supreme Court decision to grant the rights of allowing gay couples to get married. Those who oppose this new definition of marriage feel apprehensive towards the concept of same-sex marriage, due to their fears of children from homosexual family not understanding the difference perspective and identity between a male and a female because few people believe that the child will not be able to distinguish between two different gender outlook of life, such as a son of two mothers may not be masculine as his peers. Therefore, gay couples should not get married and adopt children of their own because it will affect a child’s behavior and personality. Also, marriage should not be extended to same-sex couples because they do not process the ability to produce children, thus making it difficult to start their own family and it will decrease the rate of population in the United States, due to not being able to conceive children.

Children need both a mother and a father because children will learn to understand two different perspectives of both genders. According to Dr. Pruett, within the 8 weeks, infants can tell the difference between a male or a female by interacting with them. This provides the children with diverse experience by contrasting relational interactions. Children from a young age learn the difference between a man and woman by the way males and females deal with life. Stanford psychologist Eleanor Maccoby, in her book The Two Sexes, explains that mothers and fathers respond differently to infants. Mothers are more likely to provide warmth, nurturing care for a crying infant and fathers tend to be caring, but slightly more relaxed than mothers (Stanton). For example, when a child gets hurt a mother and the father will come rushing to the child’s aid, but a mother will become more overprotective that the child doesn’t get hurt again, unlike the father who would still be worried but not smothering the child.

Furthermore, fathering expert John Snarey explains that children who roughhouse with their fathers learn that biting, kicking, and other forms of physical violence are not tolerable under any circumstances. Children learn self-control by being told when it is time to stop. Both girls and boys learn a good balance between timidity and aggression. Mothers and Fathers both provide security and confidence in their own ways by communicating love and physical intimacy (“Appreciating How Fathers Give Children a Head Start”). It develops children’s personalities and helps them react to certain situations, such as being with other children. Children are required to be nice to their peers and share things with them. Also, children will learn not to use other kids. They learn the ways of communication from the parents.

This information may be valid, however, it doesn’t mean it’s true. Children do not need to have opposite sex parents to know the difference between a male and a female. John Hopkins Children’s Center researched that gender identity is almost entirely based on nature and it’s predetermined before the birth of the baby. There were two studies conducted by William Reiner, a child psychiatrist, and urologist. He confirmed that the amount of exposure to male hormones and androgens in the utero, would almost decide whether the child is masculine and feminine (Dingfelder) (Hines) (“Gender Identity: Nature vs. Nurture). This is proof that with or without same and opposite sex parents, children can figure out the differences between two genders and their perspective because it’s already embedded naturally in the child’s brain. Children inherit genes and have hormones that affect their body and the way they act. Same-sex fathers can raise a daughter without worrying if the child acts like her gender or doesn’t understand the female perspective of certain things. But it will naturally come to the child, such as if someone gives a girl a doll or a car, then she will instantly pick up the doll because it’s already wired into the brain.

Marriage must be between a man and a woman because the purpose of marriage is to produce children and make the society grow, but how can that happen, if two same gender couples get married. Same gender couples can’t procreate, therefore, it will decline the population growth of The United States. Professor Schumm analyzed state data, which considered the effect of new variables on fertility rates, including the number of years since a state had legalized same-sex. His analysis revealed that the legalization of same-sex marriage had a negative impact on fertility rates, therefore these results suggest that fertility rates are influenced by changes in same-sex marriage law over time. National Vital Statistics Report made a correlation between same-sex marriage and decreasing fertility rates in the United States.

The study showed in 2010, five out of seven states, including Washington, DC had the lowest fertility rates, after same-sex marriage had been permitted in the United States. This states that as opposite-sex marriage decreases, which in turn means fewer children are born in The United States. Vermont was the first state in the United States to offer rights and benefits of marriage to same-sex couples through the passage of its “civil unions” law in 2000, however, the state ranked last in both birth rate and fertility rate. This puts great emphasis on procreation being the key purpose of marriage, without it birth rates will decline in America, thus causing the decrease of population growth; due to not being able to produce children. With no population growth in the United States, the economy will go through a crises created by the sub-replacement fertility rates, because the rates have been declining caused by infertility levels increasing, which as a result will reduce workers to pay income taxes for the future generation to come (Schumm and Carroll) (Mather) (Sprigg).

Nevertheless, this reasoning is invalid because gay marriage does not affect population growth because there are ways for gay couples to produce children. Many lesbian couples want to go through the process of giving birth, so they will undergo surgery for insemination. Over 57% of lesbians went through the process of insemination and it is increasing throughout the years, as a result, it won’t affect the population growth of The United States since more children are being produced by insemination. Gay males can’t be inseminated, however they can have a surrogate mother for their child. Between the years of 2004 and 2008, it is approximated that the number of children is over 5,000 or more and there is an average of nine children that are born through surrogates in each state every year. Furthermore, there are statistics, which indicate that the practice of surrogation is increasing in the United States about 89% within the four years of 2004 to 2008. Also, according to the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART), nearly 175,000 cycles of In vitro fertilisation (IVF) were conducted in 2013, a six percent increase since 2012 (“Infertility in America 2015 Survey and Report”) (Gugucheva) (Modernfamilysurrogacy.com).

These are the evidence that proves that the population of the United States won’t decline due to same-sex marriage because same-sex couples are going to medical clinics in order to bring children into the world by doing a couple different procedures. It’s another way to repopulate the earth, without having opposite-sex marriage and it won’t drastically change the birth rate at all. It’s impossible for the population to decrease if gay couples themselves are bringing kids into the world with the help of doctors and medical advances. Also, it’s not fair that gay couples should not be allowed get married because they can’t conceive children, however opposite infertile sex couples are allowed to get married, even though they can’t produce children of their own. It is discrimination towards same-sex couples because it’s unconstitutional towards human rights, which goes against the 14th Amendment protection clause. Technically, not allowing gay couples to get married because of their inability to produce children is against the law.

Gay marriages should remain legalized because it has a positive effect on the world such as, adopting children and helping the economy in financial purposes. Some people approve of this strongly because gays have the right to be happy in life and be treated equally too, and even the constitution has a way, where gay marriages can be allowed because of the Equal protection Clause and the Due process. Martin Luther King taught the world about discrimination, how it is wrong. Therefore, it is not fair that people are discriminating same-sex marriage even though they are agreeing to MLK “I Have A Dream” speech. For those who oppose gay marriage because of their fears of children from homosexual family not understanding the difference perspective and identity between a male and a female and the declining of the population growth, should learn to understand the concept of marriage and stop discriminating same-sex couples because it is none of one's business, everyone is different, and no one has the right to judge people.

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