Pros of Gay Marriage - Research Paper Example

1). Allowing same sex couples to marry support the basic principles of American democracy. Further, by legalizing same sex marriages, same sex relationships are legitimatized. In addition, through the approval of same sex marriages, heterosexual marriages are neither harmed nor compromised in any way; but would strengthen homosexual relationships. In this regard, one contends that same sex marriages should be allowed and state legislatures should approve same sex marriage in all states. When state legislations allow same sex couples to marry, they abide by the basic principles of American democracy, to wit: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights .

[and] that to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed” (Head, 2006, p. 3). By disallowing same sex marriages through the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), enacted by Congress in 1996, “which bars federal recognition of same-sex marriages and allows states to do the same” (NCSL:Same Sex Marriage, 2011, p. 1), the government is in fact issuing legislations contrary to the basic principles of democracy. As emphasized by Head (2006), “if we amend the Constitution to restrict rights, rather than to protect them, we set an ominous precedent” (p. 3). .

Head (2006) stressed that “state bans on gay sex were ineffective at banning gay sex, and state bans on gay marriage are equally ineffective at preventing lesbian and gay couples from having weddings, exchanging rings, and spending the rest of their lives together” (p. 4). Legitimizing their union would therefore promote values of accepting their partnership as a reality of live that exists in social circles the world over. Likewise, Jost (2003), in his article on “Gay Marriage” published in the CQ Researcher indicated that by legalizing the union between same sex spouses, children being raised by them would be acknowledged.

The same article cited the U.S. Census Bureau (2000) as disclosing that 43% of unmarried couples have children, where 22.3% are same sex male couples and 34.3% are same sex female couples (Jost, 2003, p. 725). The all important question raised by Head (2006) was “if the legal institution of marriage is good for the children of heterosexual parents, why should the children of lesbian and gay couples be punished by their government simply because of the sexual orientation of their parents” (Head, 2006, p. 5)? Laumann (2002) cited in American Academy of Pediatrics revealed the findings that “No data have pointed to any risk to children of growing up in a family with one or more gay parents” (p. 344). Finally, through the approval of same sex marriages, heterosexual marriages are neither harmed nor compromised in any way; but would strengthen homosexual relationships.

The advocates of same sex marriage and their supporters have argued that legitimizing same sex unions would not affect or influence the rate of matrimony or the incidence of