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Brandon Johnston
Ms. Farrell
Comp II Period 7
7 December 2014
Legalization of Same-Sex Marriage: The Battle of the Centuries
If someone were to come up to you today and say Im revoking your rights as a human
being how would you react. Believe it or not, this same thing has happened to many Americans
for centuries. Around 3.5% of Americans admit to being gay, which may seem very small, but
actually is around 315,000 people. People fear to admit to being gay, they are afraid to open up
to their families and communities for they do not want to be judged on the fact of who they love
and wish to marry. This is why same-sex marriage should be legalized across the United States.
The United States was once founded as a free an equal country. The founders of our
country set out from Great Britain so a new country could be founded; based on freedom,
equality, and later religion, speech and assembly. This new country was welcome to all where
everyone was suppose to be treated the same no matter where you originate from, what you
practice, or what you believe in. People from all over the world set out to join this new world,
but soon this country met a harsh reality and the freedom and equality it was based soon fell
apart. No longer was everyone treated the same. Industries took over, power was unequal, and
America had some major rebuilding to do which to this day is still working on. This may sound

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like a history lesson; a bunch of boring, useless information not pertaining to same-sex marriage
at all, but in fact it deals a lot with how the legalization of it all began.
The First Amendment grants the right of freedom religion and speech. Many supporters
of same-sex marriage argue that this amendment should grant the protection of the rights of
clergy and faith communities to perform their own marriage ceremonies (Masci Page 2). This
means that speech and religion should allow all communities located in the United States to
perform the acts they feel suit to allow the country to flourish on the equality it was built upon.
Also, to allow the right of clergy to offer sermons that opposes same-sex marriage (Masci Page
2). Even though homosexuals have all the right in the world to be irate; still they agree that the
heterosexuals should have the right to voice their opinions as well. Same-sex couples are aware
of discrimination with housing, employment, adoption, and other services, but those who
support gay marriages argue that once a state recognizes the marriage, the couples shouldnt
have to be subject to discrimination and should be treated just like any other married couple

(Masci Page 3). There is no reason that a couple who moves from one state, where gay marriage
is legal, to another state, where it is illegal, should be treated any differently or lose their
privileges as Americans and a married couple.
It is claimed across nineteen states that same-sex marriage is recognized; however, thirtyone states still lack the recognition of these couples. Not only does this mean that these states
dont recognize them as a couple, but these individuals are missing out on thousands of dollars in
benefits from their spouses (Ellis Page 1). It is not fair that these couples should lose out on their
benefits simply because another state does not honor them as a married couple. Recently, sixty

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year old Steven Rains spouse, Don Condit, passed away from cancer the past year (Ellis Page 1).
You would think that Rain would receive some of the benefits, but since he was forced out of his
house due to the cost of living he had to move to Texas. Texas does not allow nor support samesex marriage. Now even though the couple was together thirty years, Condit served in the
military granting him compensation; Rain would receive none of the money because of him now
residing in Texas (Ellis Page 1). Couples all over the country are being affected by similar
actions due to full faith and credit. The only chance Rain has of receiving the compensation
money from his husbands death is by the outcome of the ongoing lawsuit (Ellis Page 1).
The Bill of Rights plays a big role in the fight to legalize the marriage of homosexuals.
The fourteenth amendment clearly states in Section 1 that No state shall make or enforce any
law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall
any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to
any person within jurisdiction the equal protection of laws (Kellard Page 2). Now this may
seem confusing and not easy to understand, but in a simpler form flows perfectly with the
process of legalizing same-sex marriage nationally. The first line says, a state cannot deny nor
create a law that revokes one persons privilege that is without revoking it from someone else.
The law goes on to state that life, liberty, or property cannot be denied from you because of what
society views you as. A heterosexual cannot be delivered a right before a homosexual just
because someone feels the heterosexual is more deserving because they are normal. The last
line of the amendment states that based on your religion, sexuality, even hair color does not
change the protection received from the government. No factor determines the right because all

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Americans born or naturalized in the United States are granted this right. This amendment can be
used to argue the stature and unequal treatment between homosexuals and heterosexuals.
Marriage is based on love and is an act between the love of two people. Neither
heterosexual nor homosexual orientation should be considered for their citizenship and civil
rights (Skillen Page 1). Just because you are different than someone else does not mean that you
should be judged differently because of it. The relationship between two homosexuals is no
different than that of two heterosexuals besides the obvious same sex partner. We allow for
hundreds of thousands of marriages to be denied each day because we find them out of place in
our society. We judge people on who they love, but we do not judge those who marry for the
wrong reasons. Some people marry for the greed of money, health insurance, and even a nonsexual companionship, but we say nothing about them (Kellard Page 1). The government and
state officials turn the other cheek and look away and allow for them to happen. Even greater
than the number of marriages the government looks away from and let happen, is the amount of
divorces that come out of them! Currently, the United States alone has a divorce rate over fifty
percent (Kellard Page 1). The same-sex couples of our country are being left in the dust, turned
away from and left without a right to marry the one they love and why; because the United States
and other nations are too afraid of change and what outcomes will come from it.
Most opponents of same-sex marriage would argue that it is wrong, should not be
allowed to be practiced and disgusting. That is completely opinionated and could be viewed
whether you are gay, straight, bisexual, or a transvestite. No matter who you love, we are all
equal and should not be treated any different from one another. Only a decade ago no one

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wouldve ever expected this turn around in the eyes of the American people. It wasnt until
Hawaii challenged their right to be able to allow same-sex marriage. Although they were
declined on December 20, 1999 this act of bravery would begin an act of courage throughout the
United States as we know it (Historic US Events Page 1). By standing up for something that
not a single person it seemed stood for, brought out a soon to be new face of America.
It was on March 16, 2000 that the first of the fifty states legalized the union between
same-sex couples with a 76-69 vote (Historic US Events Page 1). This may not seem like a big
deal only having one state representing the union between anyone no matter their sexuality.
Although there was a period of a few years in which the controversy seemed to settle and fade
away; quickly it bounced back and blew up again. Between 2008 and 2009 five more states
joined the fight; including Iowa, Maine, New Hampshire, and Connecticut (Masci Page 1). All
of these states didnt simply make a snap of their fingers and simply they had the law passed.
Court decisions and trials were processed to make a deciding vote on whether or not these states
should allow for a same-sex partnership.
In more recent years, a total of thirty-two states are now joined in hand all fighting to
change the minds of the American people (Same-Sex Marriage Laws Page 1). Some may
argue that there are still eighteen other states who have yet to join in the matter, but in the time of
fourteen years the mindset of this country has completely changed as a whole. Yes, there are
religious activist and many others who are opposed to the idea, but in this day and age it is a
requirement of life to have an open mind on the changing world around us.