Gay Marriage Should Be Legalized - Essay Example

Gay Marriage Should Be Legalized Today is The society has extremely smart technologies, drugs to treat formerlyterminal illnesses, means of transport to travel from one continent to another in hours, and this list could go on. However, there are things that are still missed, and one of them is marriage equality. More specifically, even in the twenty-first century, a great number of people are perceived as unworthy of getting married and founding a family because of their sexual orientation. In the United States, not all the states have recognized same-sex marriage as legal, and this fact causes a great concern because LGBT individuals are deprived of the opportunity to live full lives as the American citizens at large. In spite of the existence of a range of arguments against, same-sex marriage should be legalized because it will expand the “opportunities for happiness for our neighbors, our colleagues, our friends and our relatives” (Verma, Schoenleber, Douglas, and et al 7). In other words, same-sex marriage legalization will benefit the entire society as well as the state and will show that human rights are not just a mere phrase. First and, perhaps, the most important reason why gay marriage should be legalized is the fact that marriage is an internationally recognized human right. More specifically, in accordance with Article 16 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, “Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution” (The United Nations). As it follows from Article 16, the right to marry is based on non-discrimination principle. Today, prohibition of same-sex marriage leads to discrimination against the LGBT community, which, in its turn, violates human rights. In addition to this, the prohibition of gay marriage implies that discrimination against people based on their sexual orientation is normal in other spheres of life as well. Therefore, in order to prevent discrimination, gay marriage should be legalized and no one should be denied in getting married and founding a family on grounds of their sexual orientation. Secondly, marriage equality can have a beneficial effect on health and well-being of couples. Due to discrimination, devaluation and prejudices based on their sexual orientation, LGBT people are more likely to experience negative health outcomes, including health problems with both physical and psychological health. In particular, LGBT individuals suffer from the so-called “minority stress”, which is defined as chronically high stress levels experienced by members of minority groups that lead to poor physical and mental health (Buffie 986). One of the most screaming evidence of this phenomenon is the high levels of suicides that result from antigay bullying. In addition to this, compared with the population of the United States at large, members of the LGBT community do not have full access to health care, and this leads to adverse health outcomes (Buffie 987). Thus, legal status and social validation of same-sex marriage would allow the LGBT community to receive health benefits. Also, marriage equality would have a positive effect on adopted children. Accordingly to the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Children’s Bureau, in the United States, almost 400,000 children are living without permanent families, and more than 100,000 wait hopefully when they would be adopted. Legalization of the same-sex marriage would facilitate the adoption of children by LGBT couples and give stable life, families and homes for children who have none by now. If children are said to be the society’s future, why should the legal system prevent those kids who are left waiting to be adopted from having supportive and loving parents? There is a great number of people who oppose the legalization of same-sex marriage exactly because they believe that children raised by members of the LGBT community will be harmed. In particular, there is an idea that children raised by representatives of the sexual minorities are more likely to experience sexual and gender disorders. Two sociologists from University of Southern California, Judith Stacey and Timothy J. Biblarz have conducted a research and published it results in the article titled “(How) Does the Sexual Orientation of Parent Matter?”. In accordance with the authors, daughters of lesbians are more masculine than sons of lesbians. What is more, the authors found that a “significantly greater proportion of young adult children raised by lesbian mothers than those raised by heterosexual mothers […] reported having a homoerotic relationship” (Stacey, and Biblarz170). Based on these results as well as on a range of other studies, those who argue against the legalization of same-sex marriage claim that LGBT individuals should not be allowed to marry and found families. In reality, the sexual orientation of parents does not matter when it comes to child breeding. In order to find whether there is a relation between parents’ sexual orientation and children’s further life choices, a wide range of studies and researches have been conducted, and they show that same-sex marriage does not validate and promote the homosexual lifestyle, as the opponents of gay marriage legalization tend to believe. On the contrary, the results of the studies suggest that gay and lesbian adults make “capable adoptive parents” (Farr, Forssell, and Patterson 175). In accordance with Farr, Forssell, and Patterson, there is “no significant differences among families headed by lesbian, gay, or heterosexual parents in terms of child adjustment, parenting behaviors, or couples’ adjustment” (175). Apart from that, researches on the influence of parental sexual orientation show that the most important predictors of child outcomes are parenting quality and attachment. From this, it follows that same-sex marriage should be legalized as it does not devalue traditional marriage and does not ignore children’s needs. Finally, federal, state, and local governments can gain benefit from the legalization of same-sex marriages. This argument is not well-know and is not often referred to, and not many people are aware of the fact that legalization of same-sex marriages can provide a significant financial support for the public and private sector. Accordingly to Perry, marriage licenses, the so-called “marriage penalty” and the decrease in costs for state benefit programs is the sources of government revenue from marriage. As LGBT individuals want to marry for the same reasons all people want to marry, they are obliged to come through the same processes. Public and private sector would only benefit from the legalization of same-sex marriage for it will allow boosting the coffers significantly. For instance, In Massachusetts, the state in which gay marriage has been legal the longest, about $110 million has been brought to the state coffer since it was legalized. Private sector would also benefit significantly as the wedding industry could earn about $16 billion if same-sex marriage were legalized in all the 50 states (Perry). Civil rights give people many liberties, one of which is the pursuit of happiness, which many homosexual people are not allowed to strive to. More specifically, they suffer discrimination based on their sexual orientation and are prohibited to marry a person they love and want to spend life with. In the twenty-first century, other people should not be able to choose who has a right to marry who, and the society should not be able to control lives of those who thinks differently but still wants to be happy without doing any harm to others. While every now and then we speak about and are told about human rights and their abuse, some people experience their rights violation. Therefore, same-sex marriages should be legalized in order to give LGBT individuals feel as equals with others and forget about discrimination and stigmatization. Works Cited Buffie, W. C. "Public Health Implications of Same-Sex Marriage." American Journal of Public Health. 101.6 (2011): 986-990. Print. Farr, R. H., S. Forssell, and C. Patterson. "Parenting and Child Development in Adoptive Families: Does Parental Orientation Matter." Applied Developmental Science. 14.3 (2010): 164-178. Print. Perry, K. "The Cost of Gay Marriage - in Dollars and Cents." Christian Science Monitor. 27 May 2009: n. page. Web. 27 Mar. 2015. . Stacey, J., and T. J. Biblarz. "(How) Does Sexual Orientation of Parent Matter?." American Sociological Review. 66.2 (2001): 159-183. Print. "The AFCARS Report." Administration of Children and Families. Childrens Bureau, 2012. Web. 27 Mar 2015. . The United Nations. "The Universal Declaration of Human Rights." The United Nations. The UN. Web. 27 Mar 2015. . Verma, P., S. Schoenleber, C. A. Douglas, et al. "Spain: Lesbian, Gay Marriages Legalized." Off Our Backs. 35.7/8 (2005): 7-8. Print. Read More