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| Acceptable to Society? | ||||||||||||||||||
| The issue of same-sex marriages is highly controversial in the U.S. One state, Massachusetts, decided today that same-sex marriages should be legal and very soon they will be. The lower court has been given 180 days to make the necessary changes so that gays and lesbians could marry. The question now is how will society react when these married couples become publicly visible. Will the perception of homosexuality change, will there be a higher level of acceptance and tolerance? I have my doubts. | ||||||||||||||||||
| In a recent poll, it was found that nearly half of Americans have serious problems with homosexuality and believe it to be a sin. An even larger percent (57%) believe that same-sex marriages should not be legalized. It was also found that the people who strongly opposed homosexuality were predominately religious people, particularly Evangelical Christians. These people have a moral qualm with homosexuality and legalizing these marriages is only going to fuel more controversy and draw even wider gaps between homosexuals and mainstream society. | ||||||||||||||||||
| The most important aspect of legalizing same-sex marriages, at least in my opinion, is that gays will have the same rights and benefits as straight people do. So many homosexual couples are denied benefits such as health care for their partners, social security benefits, the right to file joint taxes and an array of over 1,049 civil rights and benefits bestowed upon straight married couples. Still, it remains true that even if these couples are allowed to marry and the states recognize them as legal couples and they are granted the same benefits and rights, it does not necessarily mean that society will accept them or even acknowledge their marriage. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Although the laws in Massachusetts may have changed, the Bible of those who oppose it has not. This change in law will not likely change or affect people's personal convictions regarding homosexuality. Needless to say, time may help the situation. A good example of this would be the legalization of interracial marriages and the civil rights movement. When African Americans were first given equal rights they were considered equal by the law, but not necessarily by society. The acceptance of African Americans by mainstream society came nearly a decade later. Perhaps given time people will begin to see that homosexuals are not deviant perverts, but people seeking to lead a normal life. There is nothing deviant or perverted in wanting to fall in love with someone, marry and lead a stable life, quite the contrary, it is probably one of the most instinctive and natural thing a person could do. | ||||||||||||||||||
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