IMHO-Gay Marriage

“Love: a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person” (dcitonary.com). Love has many definitions; it can be felt for family members, friends, and is sometimes felt for significant others. However, over 40% of marriages in America end up in divorce—obviously, love and marriage are not easily maintained in marriages in today’s society (divorcerate.org), and its apparent that marriage is no longer sacred in our culture. However, marriages between two people of the same sex are banned, and they seem to be illegal for no other reasons besides religious ones. How is our society so concerned about the legality of others’ relationships when they cannot even hold their own together?

Same sex marriages are looked down upon mostly because of interpretations of certain passages in the Bible. “When God created a partner for Adam He created Eve - not another Adam” (christiananswers.net). However the Bible also states that we should not eat any shellfish; however, how many people take this literally and follow it? It is frustrating that only certain passages are construed so that others (like homosexuals) are affected. What about all the passages that state that we should “Love thy neighbor as thyself”? If we take these lessons on love and fairness, then gay marriage should not be an issue.

Conservatives seem to think that if gays are allowed to marry, than the traditional family would be compromised. However, the traditional family is slowly dismembering on its own—it’s becoming more and more common to have stay-at-home dads while the mother is the breadwinner, and some married couples are choosing to not have a family at all. Family dynamics are unique to each household, and every family are responsible for making it work for them. Gay couples are no different; their image looks different, but the love they have for their own children is the love any parent has for their child. Thus, why is the traditional family argument such a big one? Many straight couples cannot hold their own marriage together, let alone keep their children in a traditional family setting—who is to say that gay couples wouldn’t do the same?

Arguments against same sex marriage are outdated, antiquated, and, frankly put, are ridiculous. If two people truly love each other, no matter their sex, look, race, etc., than who are we as a society to tell them they cannot make their love legal and be married? It is neither right nor just for anyone else to tell you who you can or cannot be with.