Gay Marriage Journal - Essay Example

Gay Marriage Gay rights have been a hot public issue in America for some last decades. The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) passed by Congress in 1996protects the marriage rights of gays, since there were many states which had banned gay marriages before 1996. Congress approved the law in 2010, and legalized gay marriages. However, whether same sex individuals be allowed to marry is still controversial. This paper reflects on arguments that support and reject the idea of gay marriages, along with a personal reflection at the end.

Gay marriages should be legalized since same sex couples can prove to be better parents than opposite sex couples, as is suggested by Judith Stacey and Timothy Biblarz (as cited in Cooke, 2012, par.2). Family instability may take its toll on normal psychological development of children of both straight and same-sex couples, and so, it is not true that only gay parents prove to be bad parents by any means. They may prove to be better parents. Stacey and Biblarz argue that two men or women can raise kids better in terms of sexual growth, than a man or a woman in a traditional home setting.

Kids of gay couples do not have to see one of their parents involved in extra-marital affairs. They do not have to see their moms and dads fighting with each other every day. Kids pay little attention to what the relationship between their parents is, or whether or not their relationship relates to societal norms or not. All they want is love, of parents towards them and also towards each other. So, the relationship between parents has nothing to do with children becoming homo- or hetero-sexual.

Thus, gay marriages should be legalized without getting concerned about the parenting capabilities of the couples involved. Normandin (2011) argues that gay marriages should be banned because there is no interest or benefit attached to it that should be sufficient for its justification. He argues, with the support of scientific research, that the absence of one of the two sexes as parents is very detrimental for healthy mental and physical growth of children. In case of lesbian marriage, the absence of a biological father results in early sexual activity and adolescent misbehavior in children, since the role of father in children’s activities and mental and social health cannot be denied.

In the same way, in case of gay marriages, the absence of a mother takes its toll on the development of young children, as fathers cannot respond to the needs of infants as mothers can. Hence, the absence of either a mother or father is very detrimental for the children. The above mentioned arguments are not an absolute account of morality, because they do not highlight how children are going to be morally affected by the absence or presence of same-sex parents. I think that gay marriage should be banned, because after all, being a homosexual is not part of nature, and so is gay marriage.

Promoting something that is not a part of nature, or that is not favored by nature itself, is very damaging for the morality of the overall society (Inyang, n.d.). Homosexuality is not God-promoted. It is an instinct of human beings. Automatically, gay marriage is also not God-promoted. I believe that to maintain the morality and pass it on to the next generations, we should not promote anything that is not in the boundaries set by God. ReferencesCooke, C. C.W. (2012). Is gay parenting bad for the kids?

National Review Online. Retrieved April 5, 2013, from http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/302319/gay-parenting-bad-kids-charles-c-w-cooke# Inyang, U. (n.d.). Homosexuality Is Against Nature’s Order. Retrieved April 6, 2013, from http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/Evils%20in%20America/Sodomy/against_nature.htmNormandin, R. (2011). Opinion: Gay marriage should not be made legal. The Tech: Online Edition. Retrieved April 5, 2013, from http://tech.mit.edu/V131/N29/normandin_cp.html