Love Knows No Gender
People have battled with human rights sometimes throughout their whole life or just recently, but human rights have always been a controversial issue in the United States of America. We have learned that in our past, many have fought and conquered the same rights that are protected in the constitution for some that were not protected for others. For example, African Americans, Hispanics with each of their own civil rights movement, and even Women’s rights have affected America in the most major ways and have changed its history. Nowadays a new group faces similar discrimination and deprivation that minorities and woman have had to deal with. Not only has this issue been local and state news, it has gone cross country and become a national hot topic. This issue has become a public concern because it shows the negative side of Americans and how they can be prejudice to people who are not like them. Now is the time to take a step forward and not allow us Americans to fall back, every state holds its own election deciding whether or not same sex marriage should be legalized, it is up to the voters to set things fairly. It simply isn’t fair for any person of a certain race, gender or sexual orientation to be denied the opportunity to show their love and affection to whomever they choose, marry them and live their lives as they please. As stated by the constitution “All men are created equally” and no person should be denied their rights.
Many people have their reasons and opinions on why they think gays should not marry, one of the biggest opposers of gay marriages is the people of the Christian, Catholic and Judaism religions. These religions argue that gay marriage is against the nature that God has created. They feel that God has created men and women to be different and to love only each other to not only procreate but keep things the same. Although religion is a major part of many peoples’ lives in America, this country was based on people having the freedom to choose whatever life they want to live, including to love whomever and to believe and follow whatever. Living in a country that the government clearly states that there is no prejudices; it’s really tough to understand why they have such a hard time allowing people to marry whomever. Yes, I may not be the most religious of people but I still believe in something higher. If God is so loving, than he should have enough love for everyone and accept everyone for whom they are. Allowing the church to even influence us is an opportunity for it to control us, the same thing that our forefathers tried to prevent by writing the constitution. Another group that that opposes same sex marriage is the Republican Political party, according to a poll taken in July of 2004, seventy-four percent of Republicans are against same sex marriage, and the main argument is that allowing same sex marriage will destroy the sanctity of marriage, but I feel the sanctity of marriage is determined between the two people involved. The public has no right to have an opinion on what happens behind closed doors. Fifty percent of marriages in America end in divorce anyways between man and woman; it seems the sanctity has been ruined for a long time now.
Over the past decade federal courts have become familiar with same sex issues dealing with Proposition 8 which passed in November of 2008, banning same sex marriage in California. One of the most controversial issues that led to becoming a Supreme Court case was Strauss vs. Horton, starting with the arguments that were held in San Francisco on March 5, 2009, stating that proposition 8 is unconstitutional. The final decision was ruled on May 25, 2009 in favor of Proposition 8, which did not allow the couple to marry but did withhold previous same sex marriages, of those whom married after 2004 when San Francisco was issuing marriage licenses to same sex couples. This hot topic I’m sure is to stay on the ballots because it’s a process and soon people will understand that love knows no gender.
Another solution to this controversial issue is to let everyone love freely and to have same sex marriage be legal, not just in individual states but be valid throughout the nation. I believe that sooner or later people will realize that it does not concern you what people do or how/whom they love, as long as they are safe, free and happy what is the problem? We should legalize same sex marriage because it’s moral obligation for any person in the United States of America to have the same rights as the next. No matter their skin color, background, gender or sexual orientation. In the constitution it states that all men are created equally and have the right to pursue their happiness, so the government should stay true to that and allow people to live their lives for themselves. It’s simply discrimination and prejudice that people have toward homosexuals, which leads them to think its okay for them to deny them the right to marry. We, as a country, try to think of ourselves as a free and unbiased country where anyone is allowed to pursue their own American Dream, where people risk everything to become free and make their own decisions. The constitution is an outline of what was intended for this country and by being hateful and discriminating, we are not following the constitution set forth by some of the greatest and wisest minds of America, by agreeing to let Proposition 8 to be a law. The more we try to deny homosexuals their right to marry the further we are pushing ourselves back into the past, the past that the United States has overcome in the last 50 years. With the civil rights movement being so successful and women’s rights being secured, it does not mean that the battle is done, it simply leads us to another problem that can easily be solved as it has been done in the past. Eventually, I believe, this will be a learning process and the world can view us again as being unbiased and progressive country, for we have done it in the past and it has been said that history repeats itself.
