Gay Marriage

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[Date Submitted]Gay Marriage

Introduction

An Overview of Gay Marriage

Same-sex marriages were not legally binding anywhere in the United States until 2004. Legal marriage brings with it both obligations and benefits which include health insurance for both spouses, spouses share retirement benefits and tax advantages, numerous rights of inheritance and family rates on every possession jointly owned. Legal marriage also carries with it the intangible but considerably important facet of marriage - the recognized union of a mutually consented couple and livelihood as a true family (Andryszewski, 2011). Given these, the debate for and against the legalization of same-sex marriage has escalated to new extremes. After the legalization of abortion in the United States, same-sex marriages became the next scapegoats for Republican and religious conservatism as an ethical problem by opposing views on same-sex marriages from ethical perspectives.

Ethical Perspectives on Gay Marriage

Till 1973, psychology journals categorized homosexuality as a mental disorder. Religious institutions condemn same-sex marriages for being unnatural and on the premise that marriage can only take place between “one man and one woman”. Some critics of the legalization of same-sex marriages go on to say that bestiality, incest, human sacrifice and cannibalism will follow the acceptance of homosexuality. Only those present such absurd notions who consider homosexuality as an ethical problem. The purpose of this essay is to take two ethical perspectives and contrast their findings when applied to the ethical dilemma presented by same-sex marriages. The essay will also demonstrate why the argument against same-sex marriages is void.

Discussion

Animosity towards Gay Marriage in the United States

Civil rights movements always upset the natural flow of the politics, the continuum of societal tradition by raising their voices for an ignored issue and strive to carve an identity for themselves. Throughout U.S. history, there have been many instances of such movements, the most significant being the African American Civil Rights Movement. When the Supreme Court prohibited racial segregation in schools, in Brown v. Board of Education, the response was more thunderous than the massive African-American demonstrations. This holds true for calls to legalize gay-marriages in the present day. Numerous religious and conservative perspectives shun the very notion of marriage between the same-sex; however American public opinion has dramatically swung in recognition of same-sex marriages as a civil right.

Changes in Public Attitudes and Legislation

After Bush's election, promising cases in courts continued to further pro-gay marriage movements by validating gay marriage, at least to some extent, through state legislation. New Jersey and Maine both passed legislation that extended recognition and security to gay couples. The most liberal state on abortion and gay policies, California's legislature ratified a partnership law that granted legal recognition to gay marriage with all of the state benefits available to them, with the exception of federal benefits of course. Connecticut's legislature followed suit, recognizing the civil union between gay couples. By early 2005, international response to this so-called ethical problem was crucial to changes at home in the United States with the legalization of gay marriage ...