The Debate on Marriage Equality - Research Paper Example

Social Issue: Marriage Equality Introduction The ongoing debate on marriage equality can rightly be consideredas possibly being the most family-friendly and conventional equal rights struggle to ever occur within the United States. At the very core of the debate surrounding marriage equality is the struggle for the right of two people who only wish to live as a couple, to be allowed to do so regardless of their day-to-day life. Marriage equality is the struggle by same sex couples to be afforded some of the basic legal rights and standard safeguards such as health insurance, social security as well as the unquestioned visit for these couples to be allowed to unquestioningly visit each other in hospital. This paper will seek to analyze marriage equality, the debate around it and why marriage equality should not be allowed. The Debate on Marriage Equality The United States has been continuously consumed by this fundamentally contentious debate over same-sex marriage ever since the early 1990’s when marriage equality advocates were finally able to successfully secure their very first victories in state courts across the country. Ever since then, numerous lesbian and gay advocacy organizations have continued to aggressively push for equal marriage rights through both the legislature and state courts. These groups have however been met by fiery opposition from a number of conservative anti-gay organizations and social conservatives. It is estimated that between the year 1994 and 2009, an estimated over $100 billion was used by the two opposing camps on numerous ballot initiatives that sought to prohibit same-sex marriage (Knauer 88). The importance of this debate is emphasized by a recent news article appearing in the Washington Post, in which the legality of states in the United States banning same-sex marriages within their jurisdiction hangs on the balance pending a supreme court ruling on the overturning of the same-sex marriages ban in Utah by a federal district judge (Barnes 2014). In arguing their case, supporters of same-sex marriages commonly argue that same-sex couples simply want to marry for the very same reason as their opposite-sex counterparts. These reasons are commonly seen to include having a public celebration of their mutual commitment, to be able to provide a greater degree of legal protection for their children, as well as simply because they actually happen to be in love. Marriage equality rights advocates argue that same-sex marriage should be legalized so as to provide the couples living together with the legal benefits that come with marriage. Legalizing marriage equality will allow for same-sex couples to be provided with marriage certificates that can be used by the married partners in proving their legal rights in the event that these rights happen to be challenged. An example of this is that in emergency situations, having the capacity to easily and quickly prove their relationship status will help them in avoiding any prejudice that these same-sex couples normally face as some hospitals deny medical visits to same-sex partners. The recognition of marriage equality can also be of great help in ensuring that same-sex couples do not suffer from unnecessary discrimination. According to research same-sex couples are considerably more likely to experience what are considered to be below average health outcomes that commonly include relatively high depression levels and lower self-esteem due to the incessant discrimination and prejudice that they experience. Younger and newly identifying LGBTI people also tend to alarmingly have consistently higher rates of homelessness, drugs and alcohol abuse, conflict with parents and peers, suicide ideation and early school leaving. The legalization of same-sex marriages is touted as being of crucial importance in countering these drawbacks. The current battle over marriage equality is widely perceived to have become a major source of numerous anti-gay rhetoric and according to Knauer (88), much of this rhetoric is seen to harken back to the days when the notion of sexual pedophile/predator and American Freudians were popular. Most of the opponents of same sex marriages commonly focus on just how these same-sex marriages will potentially affect the children. When submitting their court filings, these anti-gay marriage forces normally argue that the state has an intrinsic responsibility to ensure that it constantly attempts to ensure that it preserves the traditional marriage because these different-sex marriages essentially provide optimal conditions found to be quite suitable for the raising of children. The television advertisements being created by these anti-marriage equality activists commonly exploit the rather deep seated fear that the legalization of same-sex marriages will force America’s children to be indoctrinated by what they term as the gay-agenda. They further point out that that the legalization of same-sex marriages will not only force that children be taught about gay marriages, but also about homosexuality. While about 17 states in the United States now recognize same-sex marriage, the vast majority of states have gone on to either pass laws that severely restrict any marriage union between men and women or opted to amend their state constitutions so as to effectively prohibit same-sex marriage. Other states have taken both of these two measures for good effect in what is largely recognized as being the standard behavior within our culture. Social psychology theories on Marriage Equality There are a number of different social psychology theories and concepts that can be used in the evaluation of the debate on marriage equality some of these theories include: Symbolic Interactionism: This theory which is also commonly referred to as the symbolic interaction perspective is considered to be a major framework of sociological theory. The theory analyzes society by attempting to try and address the subjective meanings that its people impose on events, behavior or objects. In the theory, subjective meanings are fundamentally given primacy due to the belief that people’s behavior is often based on what they truly believe and not just on what is considered to be objectively true. As such, society is normally thought to be socially constructed mainly based on human interpretation (Hill 35). Through symbolic interactionism, it is important for one to first understand the individuals themselves. When symbolic interactions is applied to same-sex marriages, it is important to first understand exactly why people tend to have homophobic attitudes towards those persons that happen to be different from themselves. One of the important symbolic interactionism perspectives is Erving Goffman’s idea of stigmatization. According to Goffman, individuals are able to truly be themselves when they are alone. Goffman’s idea examines the manner in which people tend to take on different roles as a general part of their daily lives because it is impossible for society to function without these various rules and roles. The perspective points out that individuals are actually socialized at an early age and subsequently tend to follow the laid down rules. Those who attempt to defy these rules are usually stigmatized and cast out of the normal society. In this respect, same-sex marriages, lesbians and gays are often stigmatized because they are considered to be immoral and unnatural as a result of their not following the social rules that they were taught to follow while being socialized at an early age. Social Structure and Personality: The perspective of social structure and personality is designed to deal with the various relationships that might exist between the present large-scale social systems and the individual mental states and behaviors that include attitudes, mental faculties, feelings and values. The perspective has a number of aspects one of which aims to try and focus on explaining distinct individual behavior in the social setting (Merton 1968). According to the perspective, every person occupies a certain given position within the social system that they are a part of. It is this relationship between these different positions that serves to make up the social structure. Social positions and structures affect people in a number of ways as we tend to have role expectations as to exactly how people that happen to occupy certain positions should behave. Under the perspective, the positions created by social structure are called social networks and these social networks are generally interwoven into several networks to include those involving friends, coworkers and family. It is important that people to act within their social networks, roles and status so as for them to be able to effectively foster a sense of their belonging in society. The perspective of social structure and personality perceives same-sex marriages to be a threat to the established centuries old societal marriage structures. In the structure men are expected to take up certain positions in the family and social networks, while women have a set position that they should occupy. Disregarding these positions within the social structures can potentially result in chaos which can adversely affect the other members of the society. Conclusion With the raging debate on marriage equality that has resulted in the ban on same-sex marriages in some states being challenged in court. It should be generally accepted that same-sex marriages are a new family norm that will eventually managed to gain increased social and legal acceptance across the country. Although marriage equality might eventually get both social and legal acceptance, it still stands to argue that society as we know it is evidently going to undergo a radical change as our children become increasingly exposed to same-sex marriages. Same-sex marriages essentially violate a number of ethical and biological considerations and it is for these reasons that marriage equality should not be allowed. Works Cited Barnes Robert. Same-sex marriage battle escalates to force Supreme Court decision on constitutionality. Web, 2014. Available at Hill Shirley. Families: a social class perspective. Los Angeles : SAGE/Pine Forge Press. 2012. Print. Knauer Nancy. Gay and lesbian elders : history, law, and identity politics in the United States. Farnham, Surrey, England ; Burlington, VT : Ashgate Pub. 2011. Print. Merton Robert. Social Theory and Social Structure. Simon and Schuster. 1968. Print. Read More