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The Gay Marriage Tug-of-War

It doesn't require individual states to adopt the decision or ban states from allowing same-sex marriage (Same-Sex Marriage). .
             Civil unions are not equivalent to marriages. "Civil unions and domestic partnerships do not provide all the legal, economic and social benefits of marriage. They foster a separate but equal status for gays and lesbians, a concept the Supreme Court ruled long ago is never equal"" (Kafka 27). 1,138 benefits are allowed to married couples, couples with civil unions only see about half of those benefits (Kafka 25). .
             Some opponents of gay marriage argue that the government gives married couples benefits to encourage them to have children and build families (Kafka 30). The children help society by keeping it healthy and growing; so for this reason the government doesn't have any interest in giving benefits to gay couples since their relationships won't result in children (Kafka 30). It is true that homosexual couples can't have children of their own in the traditional sense, but they can have children through adoption or surrogacy. Moreover the government gives benefits to all heterosexual couples regardless of if they are capable or willing to have children (Kafka 30). The government doesn't require a promise to have children to issue a marriage license; so this isn't a valid argument against allowing gay marriages. .
             A CNN poll was taken after Massachusetts legalized gay marriage. Fifty-Eight percent of the people that participated in this poll were opposed to a constitutional ban on gay marriage (Kafka 37). Legal experts pointed out that this was probably because historically constitutional amendments have ensured equal rights whereas this amendment would deny homosexuals the right to marry (Kafka 38). "Even many Americans who are skittish about gay marriage do not want to enshrine intolerance as one of the nation's fundamental principles"" (Kafka 38). This shows that people who don't agree with gay marriage still think that gay couples still have the same rights as heterosexual couples.


Essays Related to The Gay Marriage Tug-of-War

1. Analysis of the Pros and Cons of Gay Marriage

... sought-after advantages of a gay marriage, the legal right to have children, gay marriage advocates state that due to the stronger focus on egalitarian values and shared work in gay householders, children grow up well-adjusted than would otherwise be the case (Lindsay, Perlesz, Brown, McNair, et al., 2006). Second, there is the right to have community property in the states that support gay marriage, including the protection of rights specifically defining joint ... legal contention and infighting in homosexual relationships that end in divorce. The entire area of divorce law for homose...

  • Word Count: 914
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

2. Pros vs Cons of Gay Marriage

... are promiscuous, and so allowing same-sex marriages would increase the divorce rate. Further, opponents of gay marriage say that it would taint the long-standing tradition of the institution of marriage - that is, marriage between one man and one woman. Supporters of gay marriage counter with the argument that allowing same-sex marriages to occur the government is simply strengthening the relationship between two people and providing them with some legal ... and economic security. Another argument against the issue stems from the belief that the primary, if ... ...

  • Word Count: 559
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

3. California's ban on same-sex marriage

... and won a constitutional ban that will prohibit marriage between two people of the same sex. After a $75 million campaign, voters decided the outcome of Proposition 8, dealing a blow to the gay and lesbian right's of men and women throughout the state of California. Those who supported the ban focused on a few key issues during their campaigning of the bill. They believed that young children would be ... for young children to accept. They also argued that churches that refused to perform gay marriage ceremonies would be sanctioned and that the institution of marriage would end up being d...

  • Word Count: 382
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Has Bibliography

4. Analysis of California's Ban on Same-Sex Marriage - Proposition 8

... win over cross-over voters who had not decided. The contention on those looking to ban same-sex marriage is that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. This was specifically supported by opponents to same-sex marriage realizing that many of the educational texts would be rewritten to show the political correctness of having gay or lesbian parents. This single tactic of showing ... how same-sex marriages would impact the overall educational process and content ... for children further intensified the efforts of the attorneys and legislators in the side of allowing for same-sex m...

  • Word Count: 907
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

5. Florida's Ban of Same Sex Marriage

... would be needed. Amendment 2 received 62 percent of votes of support, denying those in same-sex unions the opportunity to enter into a legally binding marriage contract. Many supporters of the ban believe that it will stop judges who are activists from performing a gay marriage. Those who oppose the bill say that it is an unnecessary feature since there is a law in existence already that denies same ... -sex couples to marry. They worry that the wording of the amendment is too vague and that there will be ... problems for both straight and gay couples who are not married and only involv...

  • Word Count: 363
  • Approx Pages: 1
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

6. Eight Suspects Charged in Anti-Gay Hate Crime Beatings

... and then proceeded to strip him, beat him, and sodomize him with a plunger handle until he confessed to the rumor. The Goonies then moved on to another recruit that they believed to be gay and tortured him as well. Then, they invited the man, who one of the recruits confessed to having had relations with, to a house party. When he showed up, they burned, beat ... , tortured, and sodomized him with a miniature baseball bat (The Berkshire Eagle). The gang then went to the older man's house, tied up his brother, and ... individuals? That's not showing you're tough, that's just showing that...

  • Word Count: 502
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

7. Rutgers Student Commits Suicide After Being Revealed As Gay

... his friends to watch on iChat (Basu). It is still uncertain as to what charges Ravi and Wei will face, although some gay rights groups are requesting that New Jersey's hate crime law be enforced, which could potentially raise the maximum penalty to ten years (MSNBC). New Jersey's hate crime law is not chargeable on its own. Instead, it seeks a harsher penalty ... commented, "To this poor kid, it's better to be dead than to have people know he's gay. Therein lies the real tragedy" (Mulvihill). Steven Goldstein, chairman of New Jersey-based Garden State Equality, who considers Clementi's ...

  • Word Count: 493
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Has Bibliography

8. Compare and Contrast Gay and Straight Marriages from A Parenting Perspective

... Gay and Straight Marriages from a Parenting Perspective The re-ordering of family relationships is re-shaping the way western society considers the role of each parent, with the traditional roles for men and women significantly changing in the last two decades. The creation of nuclear families from same-sex partners is one of the fastest growing demographic segments in the United States for example (Black, Sanders, Taylor, 2007) despite the ... out and create communities of supportive couples who share their common sociological risks and concerns, thereby creating a more extended family ...

  • Word Count: 899
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

9. The Effects of the Economic Crisis on Marriage

... , salaries are stagnating, more and more people are losing their jobs, and the value of our homes is creeping ever downward. That is not an ideal economic situation in which to be spending thousands of dollars to bid your marriage goodbye. Moreover, although economic difficulties can be stressful on a marriage, lean times also mean that couples become more financially interdependent, relying on a ... combined household income to survive. In an article on MSNBC.com, Pamela Smock, a researcher at the Population Studies Center at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor puts it this way ... ...

  • Word Count: 440
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Has Bibliography

10. Weston and Cohorts Arrested for Kidnapping the Mentally Disabled

A landlord of a Philadelphian apartment discovered four mentally handicapped people chained in the basement when he went to investigate a short circuit on October 15th. Turgut Gozleveli discovered dogs locked inside of the boiler room and four adults hiding underneath a blanket. They were hunched together in a space not tall enough for an adult to stand, surrounded in human waste with only a jug of orange juice (Hoye). He unchained them while asking questions about their identity, but he didn't receive any answers. Believing them to be illegal immigrants, Gosleveli called in the police who qui...

  • Word Count: 787
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

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