_____So you and your lover want to get married. You and that person make arrangements and send out invitations for everyone to come. Then you go to the courthouse and apply for a marriage license and suddenly you�re turned down, but why? Because you�re a female or a male who wants to marry someone of the same sex. So why in today�s society do we have to set boundaries on love? Forty years ago it was illegal to marry interracially in some states and today you can�t marry a person of the same sex. It is no one else�s business who someone marries. Same sex marriages should be legal.
_____The legal definition of marriage according to Angela Bolte in Social Theory & Practice, Spring 98, Vol. 24 Issue 1, p111, 20p is stated as a legal union between a husband and wife. Some state courts have tried to place an additional stipulation on the definition of marriage; namely that marriage is a vehicle for the creation or raising of children. What about adoption? Well, in some states the courts do not allow second-parent adoptions to gays and lesbians. The reason for this is that the courts say there will be fear of ridicule on the child, but every child gets teased for some reason or another. Why should this be an excuse for a gay parent not to adopt? In the Time 12/31/99, Vol 154 Issue 27, p220, 1/3p, 1c article, John Cloud found that there are three to four million gay and lesbian parents raising between six and fourteen million children which is almost more than the percentage of heterosexual couples.
_____During the 1970�s court cases were aimed directly at allowing same sex marriages, but none succeeded. It wasn�t until the 1990�s when major cases regarding same sex marriages were filed again. In 1993 Baehr v Lewin were brought before a Hawaiian court, ruling the state must demonstrate a compelling state interest to ban same sex marriage. In December of 1996 Hawaiian State court ruled that compelling state interest was not illustrated, which allowed same sex marriages to become legal there.
_____The legalization of same sex marriages would bring what had once been determined to be different, separate or inferior can turn out to be accepted, and useful to societies decline on two parent families. The moral code of society must be subject to scrutiny. It is not enough for traditional support to deny any right. If heterosexual couples have a right to choose to marry, why can�t gays and lesbians?
_____All in all families are families whether it�s 2 moms or two dads. Raising a family takes courage, trust, acceptance and especially love. Why should we have laws that restrict our happiness? Same sex marriages are not harming the nuclear family. If anything it�s establishing a base for understanding, and helping to get rid of prejudice. Especially with children coming from single parent homes and the deterioration of family life, giving even one more option of having a �normal� family would give stability in that child�s life.
_____If I ever wanted to marry a woman, I would want that option given to me. Just because a decision is popular, doesn�t make it right, like slavery once was. As Americans, we have the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. What could be happier than having the loving bonds of marriage? What could be crueler than to have that right stripped from you by oppressors?
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