The debate on equal marriage rights for all has raged in this country for years. It is an issue that affects real people all around us in our communities and even though some advancement has been made in the fight for equality in marriage, great inequality still exists and is threatening to divide the country. The impacts of this injustice and discrimination are authentic and negative to the society as a whole. The constitution emphasizes fundamental rights for all who live in this country, and yet we continue to show prejudice to our brothers and sisters around us who have dared to be different. Every member of society deserves the equal chance to be happy and to realize their dreams and hopes all while celebrating their love, and no individual or institution should ever encroach on this basic right.
Same-sex couples should be permitted to publicly celebrate their love and involvement to each other in the same fashion as opposite-sex couples who have been doing so since time immemorial. Many same-sex couples have made known their desire to enter into a legal union and honour their love in the greatest way offered by society just as their heterosexual counterparts have been able to do. Same-sex couples want to get married for all the same reasons as heterosexual couples do, such as legal security and protection for them and their children, to openly commemorate their commitment, and sometimes just out of the love they feel for each other. To deny them, this right is inhumane. How can the marriage of two same-sex individuals who love each other deeply be wrong in the eyes of the society that encourages love for all?
Opponents claim that allowing homosexuals to tie the knot is weakening the institution of marriage. They argue that marriage has already been weakened by high divorce rates and that allowing same-sex couples to wed will only further weaken this institution . This argument however is quite redundant. Marriage is lowed on love, respect, trust and commitment and homosexuals are just as capable of this as are heterosexuals. A successful same-sex marriage would only strengthen the institution of intimacy in the eyes of society. Marriage has lost some of its sanctity with heterosexual couples, which is evident by the high divorce rates. To allow same-sex couples to espouse would be revolutionary. Homosexual couples are laboring for the right to marry which goes to show the emphasis they place on it as compared to heterosexual couples who take it for granted, and end up married and divorced reoccurring times in their lives.
An important aspect of marriage is the benefits that only come with a legal union such as inheritance and taxation rights, hospital visitation in the event of sickness, family health coverage access, and protection should the relationship come to an end . These are rights that heterosexual couples have enjoyed since time immemorial but were still out of reach for same-sex couples. This denial of marriage benefits leads same-sex couples to incur costs of between $40,000 and $450,000 in their lifetime, money that could have been used in a more meaningful way, while their heterosexual counterparts incur no such costs.
Another argument by opponents of marriage equality is that the children of same-sex couples are at a disadvantage due to the lack of both parents being represented in the home. This argument is baseless as studies have shown that there is no key difference in the cognitive and behavioural development of children who have been raised in same-sex households as compared to their counterparts raised in opposite-sex households.. It is not an assurance that because a child is raised in a home with opposite-sex parents, they will turn out perfect. The most favourable environment for a child is anywhere they receive care, love, attention and guidance and this can easily be found in any same-sex home. Homosexual couples understand the importance of both genders in raising a child, and will therefore introduce their child to either an aunt or uncle that will be able to help the child in areas where the parents are unable. This argument does not hold much ground as there an abundant of successful people who came from single parent homes and have managed to thrive, such as the President of the United Sates himself.
Works Cited
Australian Marriage Equality Incorporated. (2014, July 9). 12 Reasons Why Marriage Equality Matters. Retrieved from Australian Marriage Equality: http://www.australianmarriageequality.org/12-reasons-why-marriage-equality-matters. Print.
Brown, J. (2014, September 16). Five Arguments For Gay Marriage. Retrieved from Catholic Vote: http://www.catholicvote.org/five-arguments-for-gay-marriage.Web.
Should Gay Marriage Be Legal? (2014, September 21). Retrieved from ProCon.org: http://gaymarriage.procon.org. Print.
