Gay Marriage Essays Sample

I believe that a problem found in my exploratory essay regards Gay Marriage. Many people feel that it is a "should they or shouldn't they" topic. I believe that all people should be allowed "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness", as defined in the United States Constitution. Although this is stated in our Constitution, many people in this great nation have issues allowing two people of the same sex to have intimate relationships with one another. They use hate speech, isolating those who have essentially "come out of the closet" and can intimidate those who are ready to share their sexual orientation with those who they love.
I truly believe that gay people in our country are treated unfairly. All people regardless of sexual orientation should be allowed the same pleasures in life. Although many states are beginning to recognize gay marriage and gay rights, many still seem unwilling to accept those people. There is no quick fix to this situation, as this is and has been an ongoing issue in our nation.
The major divisions about the issue of gay or same sex marriages in the United States have been categorized under different disciplines according to different phenomena. These categories are majorly based on cultural, social, religious, and political beliefs of the American society. Research indicates that, married parents without cohabitation experiences, African Americans, and highly religious families have a higher negative attitude towards same sex marriages. However, the non-parent members of the society with cohabitation experiences, white Americans, and less religious families highly support such institutions of marriage. These views on the same sex marriages are majorly based on differences in social cultural values among the white and African Americans, the differences in the levels of religiosity, racial compositions, and the religious affiliations as well as the levels of religiosity.
According to Aristophanes’ speech at the symposium, he explains the sources of sexual orientations, which include gay members of the society. In his definition, Aristophanes indicates that, when human beings were seeking their other halves, the individuals who were separated from all males looked for male partners. In this regard, people have always maintained the search for their other halves, which determine their sexual orientations. Considering this argument, it implies that, the gay members of the society do not have control over their sexual orientations. Their sexual orientations are genetically modified and they have no control over them. However, critics argue that sexual orientations such as heterosexual or gay are behavioral traits, which can be changed. They argue that, environmental factors such as family exposure can result in the gay sexual orientations. Nevertheless, they argue that this can be changed since human beings have control over acquired behavior such as being gay.
Religious and cultural views on gay marriages have taken similar stances based on the level of religiosity or cultural backgrounds. Religiosity and culture majorly value identity. People who highly identify with their religion strongly oppose gay marriages since they believe that it contradicts the traditional definition of the institution of marriage. Culturally conservative African Americans consider gay marriages as decay to the cultural practices, which marriages as institution for bearing and raising children between a man and a woman. However, the liberal whites have adapted to the new culture, which is an integration of the cultures of different societies. Political views also take almost similar stances on the issue of gay marriages. However, since the gay community is a minority, they are usually underrepresented in different political forums, which discuss the problems of gay marriage legalizations. Therefore, they have been victimized in most situations in the society especially because they do not have the numbers to influence policy formulations in their favor.
Most people in the United States oppose gay marriages simply because they oppose homosexuality. These critics do not feel obliged to justify their assertions or grounds for their stance apart from the definition of gay marriages. Since these critics have this reason to give for their criticism, the social work profession is an important role in advocating for these sexual minorities. In their advocacy role, social workers advocate for social policy formulations, which are inclusive of the sexual minorities such as the gay members of the society. Despite the fact that not all gay families intend to adopt children, the social workers perform a very important role in explaining to the straight members of the society the need to accept the gay members of the community without discrimination. The other members of the society need to understand that, most of the past definitions including the definition of the institutions of marriage have evolved to accommodate all sexual orientations of the century.
Another problem that the gay community faces in today’s society is political and social underrepresentation. Due to their limited numbers and the suppression of their rights, gay members of the society are not equitably represented in different platforms advocating for equality. The discussions involving the topics about legalization of same sex marriages should engage the gay partners so that they get the opportunity to express their views and equitably represent the gay community. The gay marriage debates should also include people from different sectors in order to ensure that there is fairness. In this regard, the members selected into this debate should include people without partisan ideas and perspectives of the issue being discussed. Even further, legal representation has been a challenge to the gay community. Some states have passed gay laws through Supreme Court decisions. In my opinion, the gay members of the society should be given equal considerations for representation by gay counsel in such significant decisions. In this manner, court decisions shall be considerate of the views of the gay community.
The religious community has presented varied arguments about the issue of gay marriages in the United States and across the borders. The Catholic Church has been on the media for the controversies about gay marriages, especially after Pope Francis challenged his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI saying that only God can judge the gay partners, but not human beings. Another church, United Church of Christ of the United States allowed gay marriages, but barred its ministers from performing such marriage unions. From these two examples, it is not easy to nail the exact universal stance of the religious community. Therefore, to solve the religious controversies, the religious community should be educated on the need to offer the gay partners the equal rights that the other members of the society enjoy.
In conclusion, the gay members of the society have been underrepresented in different platforms, which formulate policies about marriage. Therefore, the American society should ensure that, this sexual minority group is accorded equal rights since the American constitution allows for liberty, life, and pursuit of happiness, notwithstanding the sexual orientations.