The History of and Issues surrounding the Same-Sex Marriage Debate

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Same-sex marriage is one of the leading political topics in the United States today. There is an ongoing dispute pertaining to the legalization of same-sex marriages. America has shifted its head to focusing on supporting same-sex marriage or not. Many are for and against this topic but there has been no settlement for it yet. Homosexuals want to marry for the same reason that heterosexuals have and there should be no reason why they are not allowed to. There is some history behind this topic but there has yet to be a solution.

During World War II and well after that brought many different social and political changes to the United States of America. One of the major changes was the discovery of homosexuality. In 1969 the Stonewall riots turned into a widespread protest for equal rights and acceptance. Homosexuality used to be considered a mental disorder by the American Psychiatric Association until 1973. According to an article by Elizabeth Ahlin, in 2000 an amendment passed in the state of Nebraska not allowing same-sex marriage and currently there is no campaign against this amendment (A1). The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) came about in 1996 and is a federal law that denies federal recognition of same-sex marriage and lets states refuse to recognize same-sex marriage in other states. Soon after this federal law three states adopted a same-sex marriage ban, these states include: Alaska in 1998, Nebraska in 2000, and Nevada also in 2000. Between the years of 2004 and 2006 same-sex marriage became legal in three different state, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Vermont. Ever since Connecticut legalized same-sex marriage on November forth one hundred and thirty-nine same-sex couples have been married there, and out of the one h...

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...all these benefits sound like a lot it really is not and not all states have all of these benefits.

Legal marriage should be for everyone not just heterosexuals. Denying homosexuals the right to marriage affects them greatly in more than one way. Many people do not approve of same-sex marriage because it is against their own religion. The only people that benefit from this are the people that do not accept same-sex marriages. Marriage is supposed to be between a man and a woman according to some and could interfere if they adopt children. Currently there are four states that allow gay marriage. Civil unions and domestic marriage are both ways for others to argue against same-sex marriages but do not replace marriage. Allowing same-sex marriage in all of the states in the United States will not harm anything. Homosexuals are not hurting anyone if they get married.

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