essay 3 final draft

March to equality

http://flickr.com/photos/juli-p/3033598296/

Love has no gender. "There I’m finished!" Shouted Bella as she added the final touches to the poster. "That looks fantastic!" Exclaimed Kellie in excitement. They gathered their things and headed out of their townhouse and into their car. The couple was off to Downtown Seattle where the 2008 march for gay marriage was being held. After the forty-five minute drive, which was filled with anticipation, they finally reached their desired destination. The couple parked their car and walked towards Pine Street where the march was taking place, armed with vibrant, meaningful signs. As they turned the corner, angry heterosexual couples were waiting like a brick wall, on the outskirts of the pro-gay marriage protestors. These anti-gay marriage protestors swarmed around them like angry bees jeering and yelling offensive slogans. A middle aged Caucasian man and wife thrust their joint hands with golden wedding bands in Kellie’s face and shouted, "This is what God intended, go home!" Bella and Kellie grasped hands, and slowly made their way through the barrier of the opposing crowd and finally entered the march with their fellow pro- gay marriage marchers. Bella looked towards Kellie and gave her a knowing smile. They had made it through the worst part and were excited for the rest of the day. They were in love after all and were ready to contribute in supporting the push for gay marriage.

This picture captures the enthusiasm and excitement of thousands of people protesting for the right of gay marriage. It was taken on a warm November day in Seattle , where tons of people marched and cried out in hope of overturning the laws restricting what they feel is their civil rights. Although the picture doesn't focus on the individual faces of each person it allows the viewer to see the power of numbers and the many colorful picket signs of the protesters. The first thing that catches my eye as I look at this picture is the white picket sign with the rainbow in the bottom center of the picture. Then I take in the amount of people fanning out to the top of the street, and last the center building that could possibly be a church or chapel. These three things show the main essence of the picture, which is, people fighting for their rights, and the controversial debate of gay marriage. The photographer of this piece is Julie P. The photo was taken at a protest in Seattle , Washington on November 15, 2008 ..

I firmly believe that marriage should not be restricted to only male and female couples. Like Bella and Kellie, there are many gay and lesbian couples that love one another and live together the same as any other couple. So why then should they not be able to wed like a normal couple? One common argument that is used to defend denying gays the right to marry is that "Marriage is for raising children, and since a gay couple cannot have children they shouldn't be able to marry." But if this is the case then shouldn't straight couples that are infertile be denied as well? People who use this argument against gays have a double standard. Straight older couples get married all the time and obviously cannot produce children any easier then a gay or lesbian couple. Also, although gays and lesbians cannot bear children the typical way, there are many other options such as artificial insemination, surrogate mothers and adoption. Also, many gay couples already have children through earlier involvements in a heterosexual relationship. Overall, it can be concluded that this argument that "marriage is for raising children" is weak and can be easily refuted. I think that having children is part of marriage but most importantly is the love that a couple shares.

A common question that arises among this issue is, "why is it important for gays to marry if they can still be in a relationship?" I think that it is very important for gays to be able to marry because it is a civil rights issue, and affects them in many ways. For example, Kellie and Bella have been together for seven years. They have bought a house together, share two cars and many other belongings. If anything were to happen to either one of them, even if they had a carefully drawn up will, these possessions can be taken by the family. Wills can be over turned by family members, and I have read that estates can be seized by family and sold, leaving the "surviving partner paying out mortgages." Another issue that arises from them not being able to marry is, hypothetically, if Bella were to get into a serious accident and ended up in the hospital, Kellie is not guaranteed the right to visit and/or make decisions regarding her treatment. The current law that hospitals follow makes it so that the family is in charge of who visits the victim. This is a major issue because if there is any tension between the partner and the victims family, the partner maybe excluded from the hospital. Wouldn't you want to be able to visit your loved one and put into place the crucial decisions you and your partner have discussed? There are many other rights that gay couples are being excluded from by not being able to wed. These can be life threatening and very harmful to the couple. They also leave enumerated financial and legal problems for gay couples.

Another common argument against gay marriage is that it will degrade the institution of marriage. To me, marriage is suppose to be between two people who love one another, are true to each other, and want to share the rest of their lives together. I feel like this combination can be found in any race, sex or age.. Who is to say that a man and a woman are the only ones that fill these roles? If people are worried about the sanctity of marriage they should take a look at the divorce rates, affairs and abuse that goes on in marriages. I think that excluding obviously loving couples from marriage is pointless and prejudice.


Other arguemenst against gay marriage include that the gay life style is not to be encouraged. This is the biggest load of crap. It has been proven that similar to how heterosexual people are attracted to one another, so are gay and lesbian couples. How can something that is natural be shoved under the rug and told to be ignored. Would any straight couple want to be told to ignore their feelings for the person they love? Why then would they do the same to a gay or lesbian couple? This is similar to the issue of bi-racial marriages some years ago. It is simply a matter of discriminating against a minority group, which to me is intolerable. Just because someone else’s lifestyle is different from there own, doesn't mean that a person has the right to discriminate against them.


There are also many benefits to gay marriage. One of these benefits includes child adoption. If gay marriage is to be legalized there would be more families adopting children, which would result in less homeless children.. I feel that this opportunity to provide stable, loving families for those children lacking proper homes is a great benefit. Another pro that would be a result from gay marriage is a decrease in aids and other sexually transmitted diseases. Andrew Sullivan wrote in The New Republic, "(Gay marriage) would also, in the wake of AIDS, qualify as a genuine public health measure. Those conservatives who deplore promiscuity among some homosexuals should be among the first to support it." The idea behind this is that if gays are allowed to marry there would be more long term relationships, which would result in slowing sexually transmitted diseases common to all sexualities.

Gay marriage is a very controversial debate that has many arguemants on both sides. I feel it is very important to get educated about the issue because it is somthing that effects lots of peoples. What the issue boils down to is fear which is a result of a minority having different veiws from the majority. The majority is hetero sexual groups that feel intimidated by the idea of its social norms being recuntruceted. But it is improtant to evaluate both sides and examine the good things that can come from this diverse issue. Overall I believe there are alot of false beliefs that people against gay marriage have that come from ignorance. I hope that in the future our society will have more equality and equal rights offered to all orientations.