The Debate: Why Same Sex Marriage should be Allowed

Same Sex marriage is one of the most controversial social issues in American politics today. Same sex couples have been fighting for equal rights for many years to no prevail. There have been some small accomplishments. For example, some states recognize gay marriage or domestic partnerships. However, the vast majority of state governments and the national government fail to recognize any type of same sex marriage couples at all [1]. Same sex couples want equality. That is the bigger issue here. In my opinion, the ban on same sex marriage by any institution in the United States is unconstitutional and should be raised.

In present day America, if I said that an African American couldn’t vote or had to be segregated from the rest of the population in any manner, I would have no basis behind the statement. On the other hand, fifty years ago, if I had said that, there would have been a lot of policies and people to back me up. African Americans, for many years in our country, have been refused equal rights because of the color of their skin until the Civil Rights Movement. A prominent leader from that movement, Martin Luther King Jr., defined justice as equality. In his Letter from Birmingham Jail he writes, " I am in Birmingham because injustice is here " [2].  King is referring to the segregation (unequal opportunities) of African Americans. African Americans, until the 60’s, are very similar to the same sex couples of today. Simply due to the fact that citizens in our country have a different sexual orientation than the majority of our population decides whether or not they have the right to marriage.

Opponents of allowing same sex marriage, even though misguided, have valid reasons to their beliefs. One of the biggest arguments is to protect religious rights of other Americans. The concept of marriage originated from different faiths throughout history [3]. The religious concept of marriage is a sacrament shared between that of a man and a woman. Some religious people feel that if the government legalizes same sex marriage it will insult their religion. In response, supporters of same sex marriage argue that there can be different types of marriage for whatever beliefs the couple has [4]. They argue that marriage can be religious for some people and not for others. These citizens want the same benefits as the traditional man and woman married couple legally and it has nothing to do with religion. These supporters are not trying to undermine religious customs and morals of other citizens around them. Policy in this country is not supposed to be based off of a religion. We have freedom of religion in this country. No one has the right to determine who can or cannot get married. Simple as that. We are all citizens of the United States. We are all equal.

The Defense of Marriage Act states this about marriage, “In determining the meaning of any Act of Congress, or of any ruling, regulation, or interpretation of the various administrative bureaus and agencies of the United States, the word 'marriage' means only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife, and the word 'spouse' refers only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife” [5]. This legislation denies any and all rights to marriage from non-traditional couples. According to King, “Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades personality is unjust”[6]. Dr. King would consider the Defense of Marriage act to be degrading to a certain aspect of the population and, therefore, unjust.  This legislation completely strips the right of marriage from an entire sub group of citizens.

           

            Personally, the strongest argument for the reason why same sex marriage should be legalized is because the constitution states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...”[7]. This is known as the Free Exercise Clause. It separates church and state. This clause is a fundamental belief of the founding fathers of our nation. Religion may play a major part in the citizens of our nation. However, that doesn’t mean that policy should be changed or created due to religious institutions. The government should not be allowed to legislate morality. That is exactly what is going on in America today. Our government should be giving us the ability to make moral decisions about our own lives, as long as it is not harming anyone.

            A prime example of legislation that was heading in the right direction is Maine’s law LD 1020 that was signed by their governor in 2009. It stated, “Marriage is the legally recognized union of 2 people. Gender-specific terms relating to the marital relationship or familial relationships, including, but not limited to, "spouse," "family," "marriage," "immediate family," "dependent," "next of kin," "bride," "groom," "husband," "wife," "widow" and "widower," must be construed to be gender-neutral…”[8] This legalizes the union of same sex couples. A policy brief regarding Maine’s new law (please read) goes into the three main issues that opponents have with the law: 1. How might the institution of marriage be affected by same sex marriage? 2. What might be the effects on society be if more couples marry as a result of same sex marriage? 3. What might the effects on children be of same sex marriages? All of these issues are important when discussing same sex marriage. However, the arguments in defense of same sex marriage are too strong to overcome. America as an institution should be changing the way they view policies. We must understand that moral decisions should be made by the people and not by the government.

            Our society is becoming more and more accepting of same sex marriage. In a recent poll it showed only 48 percent of Americans were opposed to gay marriage.  Now we need to go out and make this data a reality. No tangible progress will be made if no one goes out and does anything about it. The African Americans and other citizens in the 1960’s did just that and succeeded. The United States is a democracy and nothing will get done without participation from its citizens. Write a letter to your politician highlighting the point that the ban on same sex marriage is unconstitutional. Go out and participate in a local protest. 

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[1]  Caitlyn Stark, “By the numbers: Same-sex marriage,” CNN.com, May 12, 2012, http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/11/politics/btn-same-sex-marriage/index.html

[2]Dr. Martin Luther King.  August 1953. Letter from Birmingham Jail

[3] Mohr, Richard D. “The Long Arc of Justice: Lesbian and Gay Marriage, Equality, and Rights” Hypatia 22, no.1 (2007),

[4] van Gend, David and Tim Wilson. 2011. "The Gay Marriage Debate." Review - Institute of Public Affairs 63 (3): 36-37.

[5] "Defense of Marriage Act." Family in Society: Essential Primary Sources. Ed. K. Lee Lerner, Brenda Wilmoth Lerner, and Adrienne Wilmoth Lerner. Detroit: Gale, 2006.

[6] King.

[7] Cornell University law School, "Free Exercise Clause." Last modified 2002. Accessed November 19, 2012. http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/free_exercise_clause.

[8] Smith, Margaret. "LD 1020 - An Act to End Discrimination in Civil Marriage and Affirm Religious Freedom."Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center, . https://ctools.umich.edu/access/content/group/127b7b8a-9c0b-4ce2-859a-9c949e578b31/Week 13/Same-Sex Marriage PolicyBriefLD1020.pdf (accessed December 10, 2012).