For Marriage and Against the Amendment

For Marriage and Against the Amendment

Rated: G

Summary: A speech I presented a few years ago on why gay marriage should be legalized and the amendment banning it voted against.

Discrimination has no place in the Constitution, but the President disagrees. On Tuesday, February 24^th earlier this year, Bush informed America that “the union of a man and woman is the most enduring human institution, honored and encouraged in all cultures, and by every religious faith.” Following this, he called for a ban on same-sex marriages. He even went so far as to endorse a constitutional amendment “defining and protecting marriage as a union of a man and woman as husband and wife.” Now really, what is he basing his judgment on? Religion. Faith. Belief. What happened to keeping the church and state two separate entities? Now just think about it: why are same-sex marriages so horrible that our President is calling for an amendment? After all, the Constitution has only been amended seventeen times in the last 215 years, and the last time was over a decade ago. The problem is, when asked, most people will respond positively to gay rights regarding equality for jobs, housing, public accommodations, etc; basically everything with the exception of marriage. More than fifty percent of all Americans are against same-sex marriage, even though seventy-five percent support other gay rights. But in spite of this, creating an amendment banning marriage, a human right, is completely unconstitutional.

Many people may not believe it, but gay marriage actually does benefit the heterosexual society. Being able to fully commit to the ones that they love, participants would be discouraged from promiscuous sex. Consequently, the spread of sexually transmitted diseases would decrease. Although STDs know no sexual orientation, being able to commit completely would, in reality, cut back on the epidemic. Moreover, allowing gays to marry each other will reduce the amount of heterosexual marriages that end up in the divorce courts. Gays will no longer be encouraged to marry people of the opposite sex to whom they feel little attraction. On the contrary, many people are blind to these benefits. Some actually reason that straight marriages are valid simply because they produce children. But how does this explain why infertile couples and seniors are allowed to marry? Marriage is about commitment, not procreation. So how is this a benefit? For instance, imagine if ten percent of all gays sudden refrained from procreation whatsoever. This would actually help our world, which is suffering from overpopulation and other ecological problems. See, marriage between two gays does benefit the society as a whole.

One of the most popular arguments against same-sex marriage is that gay relationships are immoral and offend everything that religion stands for. But what is this judgment based on? The Bible? It is understandable that many people are very religious and thus are very firm about their beliefs and people respect that. However, religion should have nothing to do with issues such as these. America is not a theocracy, ruled by some divine guidance or such. Christianity has no standing in American law, as it is clearly stated in the First Amendment. Why does it matter if the church approves or not? Besides, not all religions are anti-gay marriage. Many mainstream Christian denominations, most branches of Orthodox Judaism and Islam, are against it, but many others actually favor it. For example, several Buddhist sects celebrate gay relationships freely. In a society that claims to have religious freedom, the use of government to enforce private religious beliefs is simply hypocritical and more than a bit unethical.

People also argue that marriage is traditionally a heterosexual institution. Oh, like that hasn’t changed at all: women are property, Blacks can’t marry Whites, and divorce is illegal. Besides, slavery was also a traditional institution. And that’s changed… Why can’t this? Some say to go down the safe route and give gays some legal rights and call it something other than marriage, but that’s not good enough! America has already gone through this. Separate is not equal.

This is not a small issue; it is extremely serious because it regards civil rights and matters of civil justice, which may lead to life-threatening consequences. In most states, gays are not permitted to make medical decisions for their partners during emergencies. The hospitals are forced under law to go to families whom may have been estranged from the patient for decades, and perhaps are even homophobic and act hostilely towards them. These families actually have the legal right to exclude the patient’s partner from the hospital room, even if the couple has been together for most of their lives! And families can even legally make medical decisions based on their hostility towards the patient—decisions that could be consciously intended to hurt the patient. Does this sound fair to you at all? In addition, if one of a gay couple is arrested, their partner can, by law, be compelled to testify against them or to provide evidence against them. Legally married couples are not subjected to this harsh treatment. In some courts, a partner’s testimony can even be ruled irrelevant if a hostile judge deems it so. The testimony of a gay partner has just about as much weight in law as that of a complete stranger’s. In short, if the United States of America is such an advanced society, why are we tolerating this kind of injustice?

President Bush supports a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, something that is unconstitutional in itself and should not be allowed in a free country such as America. He believes that this nation is in need of a single law regarding same-sex marriage that is immune to judicial reversal. But he is wrong. So spread the word. You can make a difference by getting over your prejudices and convincing your parents of the same. Tell all the adults you know to vote against the candidate promoting this amendment. Remember, marriage is about commitment and love, not discrimination. Once society gets over its aversion based only on ignorance and prejudice, we will be able to fulfill the most famous part of the country’s Pledge of Allegiance: “One nation … with Liberty and Justice for all!”