Controversy Surrounding Gay Marriage

The Controversy Surrounding Gay Marriage

The debate of gay marriage is very complex, due to the many different feelings people express on the topic. One opinion is that gay marriage should be legalized nationally. Others feel that gay marriage should not be legalized but civil unions should be granted to homosexuals so they have an alternative that allows gays and lesbians to receive something that compares to the same rights as marriage. On the other hand there is a large group that believes neither gay marriage nor civil unions should be offered to gay and lesbian couples and that any legal union should be available to heterosexual couples only. The different opinions that are expressed by society’s attitudes towards gay marriage continue to cause great controversy throughout the country, and should come to a halt by allowing homosexuals to wed.

The true meaning of marriage is sharing vows between two people to bind their feelings toward each other forever. Many feel that the sanction should be shared between a man and a woman and if it is opened to homosexuals this will take away from the importance of marriage. According to Robert Cummings, a writer for the Flint Journal, states, “Gay marriage is a mockery of a marriage between a man and a woman” (Cummings). A large amount of society feels that if gay people are married the sanction of marriage will become corrupt and will no longer be as important as it currently is. If marriage is such an important sanction between a man and a woman that will be corrupted by gay people, than why are men and women getting divorced each day as if marriage means nothing? Straight people take advantage of the privilege they have to wed, while gay couples have to suffer because they are not considered “normal”. Everyone is so fixed on the point that if they allow homosexuals to marry there will be an increase in the divorce rate, yet, no one has any real proof of this actually happening. At this point in time the divorce rate in America is continuing to climb and studies show that it will continue to increase unless some changes are made.

When conversation surrounding gay marriage arises much of society feels strongly against it due to religious beliefs. Many feel that “according to the bible” it is not permitted, so therefore it should not exist. What people fail to realize is that the bible also states that the many everyday activities society takes part in is also considered unacceptable. For example the Bible states that if a woman fails to prove her virginity at the time of matrimony, "the men of her town shall stone her to death" (Jeffrey 227). That is something that present day Christians clearly do not agree with nor do our laws allow for it. After reading versus such as that, how can one argue against gay marriage from Biblical passages that condemn homosexual activity, but choose to ignore a variety of similarly inhumane, sexist and racist passages which encourage slavery, the murder of witches, and stoning? Thus condemning homosexuality singled out by gay marriage opponents based on the bible is a completely unfair and bizarre argument. Yet there are people such as Robert Cummings who state, “God loves gay people, but he despises the sin of homosexuality. I wish there was a worldwide ban on gay marriages because it’s not right” (Cummings). The common misconception that people have with gay marriage is that unless a couple has the desire to get married within a church, a legal marriage has nothing to do with God or his beliefs. Marriage is a sanction in which the state decides whether or not a couple is fit for a marriage license. So when society continues to argue that religion should keep homosexuals from be allow to wed they are quite confused on what exactly being wed entails. Religious extremists also believe that homosexual relationships should not be allowed because a gay or lesbian couple is not able to procreate. An article by MSN, news broadcast, states, “If sex without the possibility of creating life is wrong, then religious leaders would have to go back to warring against masturbation. And what about sex among the infertile? Or sex among people over 70?” (Waldman) MSN believes that many religious groups will pin point specific things that they feel are morally wrong in order to bring down gays, yet, they tend to leave out