Gabrielle Jolly
May 22, 2004
Period 7



	I find that it is sort of difficult to write another paper on gay marriage, not
because I’m running out of ideas, but because I’m full of new, more complex ones. The
main excuses against gay marriages are religion - seriousness of marriage along with 
fruitlessness and not being able to give one’s self fully - and that it “just doesn’t seem
right.” These excuses against gay marriage look so ignorant and biased, and refuse to
change while I keep on discovering more and more about it. 
	All across the country, people are bound by marriage under many religions. Gay
marriage mocks those religions and puts down normal marriages, as if it were all in
vain. For the majority of excuses I’ve heard against gay marriage, it’s always “against the
Bible.” I don’t recall the Bible saying directly: Homosexuality is wrong. Perhaps I
haven’t skimmed it enough, but it’s usually indirect ideas that people automatically try to
link it as such. How does it mock religions, or belittle normal marriages? Anything can
be considered mocking religion or race. People have become overly sensitive and petty
over those things.  
	People usually joining in some sort of marital union expect something from it.
Most people that marry start families and have children. How, in a relationship, being
the same gender, will children be produced? Many people will agree that marriage is not
about children. After all, there are many heterosexual couples that are incapable of
having offspring. Does that mean that their marriage is pointless? There are people that
aren’t married having children, but what kind of point is that making? Isn’t that making
marriage more of a mockery than homosexual marriage? People ramble on and on about
how fruitless same-sex marriages may be, but they don’t stop to consider adoption. The
more same-sex marriages there are, the less children there will be - that’s not true. There
will still be heterosexual marriages to keep up with that. Even if it were true, “the less
children there would be,” the more would be adopted. 
	In many religions, marriage is thought of as giving one’s self fully, as a whole,
etc. That means that, on top of loving them, you must have sex with your partner. Sure,
males’ bodies don’t fit other males’ bodies, and females don’t go with females, but
loving the person you marry is said to be the most important part of marriage. Same-sex
couples have a long time to think about marriage, and know the problems that they are
faced with. They are just like any other couple, but with more opposition from their
surroundings. 
	Giving one’s self mentally is more imposing than giving one’s self physically.
And, as said before, people have sex outside of marriage; does that not unravel all of
these religious claims against gay marriages? So, Christianity for example, likes to focus
on physicality when something seems weird to them. If two people that love each other
want to get married, they should. If the sanctity of marriage is considered to be in danger
of corruption from same-sex marriages, then there’s news:  Marriage was corrupted a
long time ago. 
	On a less religious note, many people without any given religion see homosexual
marriages as “just not right.” They also back their arguments up with fruitlessness and
not being able to have sex. To them, it’s all based off of the human entity. A human has
free will, a mind, and a soul. And then, in a completely different group, a human has a
body, which has gender. People place gender with the spiritual characteristics. I’m not
saying that gender doesn’t help shape who we are, I’m just going to say that it’s not [who
we are]. 
	A conclusion cannot be reached until everyone agrees on what marriage is, and
why. But even with this, homosexuality is it’s own issue. “I don’t mind the
homosexuality. I don’t understand it. Nevertheless, goddamn, I don’t think you glorify it
on public television, homosexuality, even more than you glorify whores. We all know we
have weaknesses. But, goddamnit, what do you think that does to kids?” - President
Nixon. Nixon is calling homosexuality  a weakness, others call it gross, while others call
it un-Christian, rebellious, or disrespectful, etc. It was only about thirty years ago that
black and white people could not marry. This is the exact same situation with slightly
different characters. True equality and understanding must be reached before anything
starts to work out. 
	Whether homosexuality is morally or religiously wrong, it is a lifestyle many
people choose to live by, and in this “free country,” they should have the right to live it -
despite what other people believe is right or wrong, especially since it’s not hurting
anyone. People become so wrapped up in their own religions, that they miss the fact that
they are speaking against other people’s rights to love and marry the person they choose.
The government, before we know it, may take away the rights of homosexuals under the
pressures of those against same-sex marriages. Before we know it, they may not seem
like equals, and we will have dug ourselves into the same trench of stupidity we (and
everyone) were caught in before - during slavery, during the World Wars, during 911, and
now. While we’re denying people their civil  rights.