The Pros And Cons Of Gay Marriage

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Recommended: Discrimination towards the LGBT community

Imagine someone telling you that you were not allowed to marry the person you are in love with just because they are the same sex as is. Imagine being harassed and treated completely different just because you are in a relationship with someone of the same gender as you. Now more than ever, same-sex marriage is a topic that is often discussed. In 2010, there were approximately 646,000 same-sex couples in the United States according to the 2010 decennial census, (Lofquist, 2010). As of Jan. 6, 2014, gay marriage has been legalized in 17 of the 50 states, (procon.org, 2014). For a very brief amount of time, Michigan was the 18th state that allowed gay couples to marry, but now it joins Utah, Oklahoma, Virginia, and Texas. These states have had courts overturn gay marriage bans, but they still have pending appeals.
Bill Schuette, Michigan’s Attorney General, believes that defending traditional marriage is defending the state constitution. The Michigan Constitution has to face a lot of decisions regarding controversial issues including: stem cell research, affirmative action, term limits, and the death penalty. While discussing same-sex marriage, Schuette said, “But I also know that there is a difference between a buffet and the state’s constitution. This fundamental document is not a cafeteria in which you can pick and choose which measures are enforced and defended.” Schuette does bring a valid argument to the surface but there are other things that should be brought into consideration. I strongly believe that same-sex marriage should be legal in every state, not just 17 of them.
The state of Michigan allowed same-sex couples to marry for only seven hours, (Chandler, 2014). During that time, nearly 300 same-sex marriages were per...

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... they cannot produce children together. They believe that allowing gay marriage would only shift the purpose of marriage away from producing and raising children, (Mack, 2010).
With all that aside, same-sex marriage should be legalized in all 50 states. Furthermore, it should be legal across the world. Gender should not play a role in marriage because gender is irrelevant when it comes to being in love. If it was legalized, same-sex couples would be able to publicly display their commitment to each other, have the same benefits as heterosexual couples, stop being referred to as inferior, create more revenue for the government, and it will also help the gay, lesbian, and bi-sexual people’s physical and mental health. “If anybody can find someone to love them and to help them through this difficult thing called life, I support that in any shape or form,” (Will Smith).

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