Ive found something that not many have, and its what we call love.

But, I cant spend the rest of my life with them, only because theyre the same gender as myself. Marriage is a bond that connects two humans that would die for the other, but is commonly denied to gay, lesbian, transgender, and bi members of society. Todays modern world not only denies two consenting adults to marry, but also refuses them a right to adopt children, and change needs to occur in order for any of us to live a happy and equal life. Its hard enough for members of the LGBT community to come out. Take from me, being open about your sexuality is no easy task and takes a great amount of courage to do. Its a great leap of faith we take in the trust of others thats shattered by the thought that we arent actually recognized by the government. The problem here is that the idea behind not allowing marriage equality stems from the belief that marriage is strictly between members of the opposite sex. From a religious standpoint, its an upbringing and tradition passed down between generations. From a political standpoint, marriage has a varying definition, but almost always comes down to an upgrade, per say, of benefits and rights deemed to the couple. According to the 1997 General Accounting Office report, 1197 benefits given to a married couple include over 1,000 legal protections from the federal government alone. The United States currently has a legal status for gay couples called civil unions in which they get some benefits of marriage, but not all. Historians always said history repeats itself and thats exactly what were seeing today. The last time the theme of were equal but youre less equal than us was used was during the civil rights movement. We look back then and think that we were vile and evil for doing things like that, but its the same inequality were experiencing now. The biggest difference of todays inequality versus the civil rights inequality is that marriage equality is being tacked as an attack on morals. Religion plays a larger role in todays politics than many of us care to admit, but its a prominent issue. Moral standards of marriage staying strictly between man and woman are withheld through religion. I get that change is hard and it takes baby steps, but LGBT couples arent asking to be accepted and married by the church. Theyre asking to be legally recognized, and I think its the least we could do for the 3.1 million U.S. citizens currently in a same-sex relationship. Other countries around the world have already surpassed the U.S. in letting equality ring through their boundaries. Marriageequality.org, a website that keeps track of every movement in every country, stated that Greece, The Netherlands, and England have already allowed freedom to marry. Greece took judicial action against one of its mayors, believing that marriage had no right in politics and even stated, people who marry outside the churchcan do what they want. Along with an attack on marriage, came the attack on the right to have a family. Adoption rights for same-sex couples have reached an impasse. Conservatives feel that the only way to raise a child is by one man and one woman. I dont fully understand why they think this way. Is it better to leave a child to grow alone in an orphanage than to have two mothers or two fathers? According to Disney, its not. Remembering the classic Disney movie The Lion King, the main character, Simba, was raised by a male meerkat named Timon, and a male warthog named Pumba. Had it not been for these two, Simba wouldve had to fight on his own, probably to grow up resentful, cold, and bitter. United States census stated that, currently, 21.2% of households are same-sex couples whom adopted children. Any of these kids couldve spent their life in a detached orphanage or foster parent system, itching until they could live on their own. Instead,

they ended up with their own loving Timon and Pumba. Whats so wrong about that? It truly breaks my heart that we live in a country that believes in equality, yet deny rights to same-sex couples. We cant legally marry, and we cant raise a family. I used to believe that America was the greatest in all of its freedom, but now I realize we are a country that truly believes that freedom means more free than others. Our forefathers came to this land to found a nation worth believing in what was best for everyone. They wrote that every man would have the right to the pursuit of happiness, but what is happiness if I cant spend it with the one I call my love?