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Pro-Gay Marriage
By: Chris Rice
Gay marriage is one of the most controversial topics of debate over the last decade. Many
argue whether it should or not be legal to marry someone of the same sex. Jonathon Rauch
argues in his piece Whos More Worthy? that homosexuals have every right to get married as do
heterosexuals. In contrast Stanley Kurtz states in his piece Point of No Return that he believes
same sex marriage should not be legal. Kurtz argues that allowing homosexuals to get married
adds to much flexibility to the term of marriage. He believes that marriage is strictly for a man
and women. When homosexuals are added to the mix it completely reinvents the word marriage.
Society should accept gay marriage because a civil union doesnt give these couples the benefits
that a marriage would and there is no reason why a homosexual couple wouldnt make as good
of a couple as a heterosexual couple.
One argument made by Kurtz is that statistics show that gay men do not often practice
monogamy. The only fault to his argument is that there are no statistics for the counter argument
of heterosexuals that practice monogamy. Without any evidence of this a comparison, there is no
argument that Kurtz can make out of this point. Those who abide by monogamy are believed to
have more successful marriages, but if the argument is that gay men dont practice monogamy
and heterosexual people do, then there should not be such a high rate of divorce in the United
States. All homosexual individuals want is to have the same right to follow the path of marriage
as heterosexuals. The main reason these people want to legalize gay marriage is because a civil
union is much different than a marriage because a civil union does not allow for the same
benefits as a marriage. For example, in a civil union couples are not allowed to share health

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insurance while a married couple has that ability. Also, opposed to married couples, couples in a
civil union may not file joint taxes.
Another argument that Kurtz makes is that allowing homosexuals to get married gives the
word marriage too much flexibility. He says that heterosexual couples
see marriage as a subjective projection, rather than a shared social standard to which to
aspire, are the people who favor gay marriage, the idea of which appeals to them
precisely as a symbol of the infinite flexibility of social life. (Kurtz)
But if marriage is something to aspire to then homosexual couples should have every right to
seek marriage as a heterosexual couple. Gay people should not feel inclined to keep the social
norm because people will look at them differently. Everyone has equal rights and everyone is
different, therefore one should not have to keep the social norm if it is not something that makes
them happy.
In conclusion, homosexuals should have every right to practice marriage as heterosexuals
do. When one looks back at the civil rights movement during the sixties, there was an enormous
amount of discrimination toward African-American individuals, but this is the exact same
situation. American heterosexuals are showing the same discrimination toward homosexuals as
Caucasian Americans did to African-Americans during the civil rights movement. It is a civil
right to practice marriage, therefore all Americans, gay or straight, should be able to do what
their heart desires. All citizens should have the right to marry whomever they please.

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Works Cited
Kurtz, Stanley. Point of No Return. Ethics and Public Policy Center.
Rauch, Jonathan. Whos More Worthy? National Journal. 6 August 2001.