McKenna Cooper

Ms. Taravella
Global Leadership
3 May 2014
Same Love

Love knows no gender: gay and lesbian couples around the world should be
awarded their full rights. The matter of who marries whom and which rights they obtain
in doing so is a matter that should not have to be fought for. Only 17 states and the
capitol have legalized same-sex marriage and awarded those couples their rights. People
of the LGBT community are human beings who deserve the same rights as any other
human. When LGBT couples are denied their rights, it prevents them from being equally
protected under the law, which is in violation of the constitution. The topic of same-sex
marriage and the rights of those couples have become a hot button subject over the past
decade and people are talking about it more than ever. The people of the LGBT
community should be awarded their rights because: even the opponents are changing
their stances, the matter of rights and marriage is a government matter and not a religious
one, the children of the LGBT couples are being affected negatively, and these people are
just trying to claim what their constitutional rights allow them to have.
If citizens have been paying attention to the news lately, they will find that many
opponents of LGBT marriage and rights have come to announce that their viewpoint is
evolving and that they are beginning to accept giving rights to gays and lesbians. Some
claim that it is because theyve gotten to know people who are gay or because they feel
they can no longer support their argument. According to a lawyer named Theodore
Olson, a conservative republican helping the LGBT community obtain their rights, other
conservatives and opponents are coming into the new times and are realizing the error of
their ways. Olson claims, The other side doesnt have any good arguments. They have a
bumper sticker that says marriage is between a man and a woman. (James Fuller 2)
Olson believes that there is no legal argument to support denying LGBT couples their
rights and marriage. (Fuller 1-2) Olson is not the only conservative to feel this way; over
30 federal judges have ruled to support same-sex marriage, most being republicans. Many
others are evolving their views solely based upon human decency. Same sex couples have
claimed to opponents, I hope that opponents of same-sex marriage come to realize that
they are hurting people in many ways beyond denying them a title. (Friedersdorf 4)
Because they realize that they are hurting others, many politicians and a few religions
have begun to accept same-sex relationships. People around the country, whether a
democrat, republican, religious, or atheist, are coming to terms with the fact that same-
sex couples are humans and deserve their rights too.
However, many religions are still fighting to deny same-sex couples their rights. If
you ask some people who celebrate a certain religion what they think about giving rights
to same-sex couples, they will most likely say marriage is between a man and a woman
or children need both a mother and a father and say that its best for everyone if the
LGBT community did not receive their rights. They feel that marriage is a religious
sanction and that letting homosexuals marry or have children together would be violating
their religion. Nevertheless, this is untrue. Looking back in history, there is evidence that
marriage began as a contract through the government, not any religious institution.
Eventually religions decided to preform marriage ceremonies and formed their own rules
around it, but no religion itself started it. But religious opponents are only part of the fight
for rights.
Equally important are the children and potential children of the LGBT couples not
being legally protected by both parents. In most of the states where same-sex marriage is
illegal, couples cannot obtain the right to have a child jointly, only one person in the
couple can. If the couple decides to go through IVF then only the biological parent of the
child can legally provide and protect for it and only in a few states can the couple equally
adopt a child. However, in Tennessee, two mothers are pushing for change. Valeria
Tanco and Sophy Jesty were wed in the state of New York, a state that recognizes same-
sex marriage and then moved to the state of Tennessee, which does not. Once moving
there, they discovered that Tanco was pregnant after a successful IVF treatment and the
mothers-to-be decided that they wanted to both be able to protect and care for the child
legally and were fighting in court to do so. The court appealed the case just in time for
their daughter Emilia to be born and both the mothers put their names on the birth
certificate, a first in the countries history. Of course this might not remain this way as
the court is trying to fight it. But Jesty and Tanco arent the only same-sex couples
fighting this fight, numerous couples around the country are fighting to earn legal rights
to their kids, Same-sex couples from both urban and rural America, in an array of
vocations are facing problems such as these arising from care of their children or an ill
partner. (Biskupic 2) This area of the fight is one of the most important ones, if both
parents do not have legal rights to the children and something happened to the parent that
does, what will happen? If a child is hurt and the only parent that can show up to the
hospital is the non-legal parent, what will happen? This fight is no longer just about
protecting the couples; its about protecting their children.
Finally, the battle for the LGBTs communities marriage and rights is not just
about being able to earn a title; its about the constitutional rights they deserve. Almost
every time that someone brings up same-sex marriage on the news, you get the sense that
marriage is all anyone focuses on and that same-sex couples are only fighting for that.
But it is goes far beyond marriage. The LGBT community is not doing this just so they
can marry the person that they love; they are fighting so they can feel like they belong in
society, to stop feeling like theyre outsiders in the world that they live in. A man had
sent an email to an ally blogger one day and explained his feelings on why he needed to
fight for his rights. He said, The fight for gay marriage is to be recognized as a normal
member of society. (Friedersdorf 3) When these people dont feel protected under the
constitution, how can they feel that they are a part of their countries society? There used
to be a law called Dont ask, Dont tell that didnt allow any gay or lesbian to be open
about who they are in the military, the law was first instated so that straight people
wouldnt feel uncomfortable living in close quarters with somebody that they knew could
possibly be attracted to them. Today that law is no longer in place; President Obama
struck it down because he didnt want anyone in the military to be ashamed of whom they
were when they were willing to sacrifice their lives for the country. Those people
shouldnt have to sacrifice their true selves when they were already sacrificing their lives.
There was also a bill that became known as Prop 8; the famous bill that was banning
same-sex marriage in California and would have potentially moved on to others; That bill
was also struck down in May of 2013 after it headed to the Supreme Court. Prop 8 was
one of the most controversial bills to be fought about in this country; many gay and
lesbian people claimed that it had basically told them that they were abnormal and
dangerous to society because of their sexual orientation. (Friedersdorf 2) When
interviewing people about the subject of same-sex rights, one man said, Why does it
matter whos claiming the right? Its a fundamental right and why does it matter to the
participants in that enterprise? Why does it matter? (Littwin 2) America was built on the
claim that everyone would be treated and protected equally under the law and even the
Pledge of Allegiance states with liberty and justice for all. So why dont we have that?
Why are there still people fighting for their rights in a country that claims to give its
people their freedom. If the constitution was right and they truly did give everyone the
rights that they deserve, there wouldnt be a fight to be fought about today. People of the
LGBT community are people of this country, and they deserve their rights too.
The subject of same-sex marriage and the rights of those couples will probably be
fought for a while longer, but eventually they will have their day. Everyone will one day
have their rights and be able to marry the person whom they love with no question about
it. The opponents are already changing their viewpoints, the religious fight is already
becoming invalid, LGBT parents are earning parental rights, and the constitutional rights
are becoming more enforced. One day in history people will look back and wonder why
these people were treated so unjustly in the first place and wonder why anyone was
denied their rights solely based upon whom they loved. Every love is the same love.

















Works Cited

Biskupic, Joan. "Two Moms, a Baby and a Legal First for U.S Gay Marriage." (n.d.): n. pag.
Reuters. Web. Apr.-May 2014. <www.reuters.com>.

Friedersdorf, Conor. "A Reader's Case for Punishing Gay-Marriage Opponents." (n.d.): n. pag.
The Atlantic. Web. Apr.-May 2014. <www.theatlantic.com>.

Fuller, Jamie. "Is Gay Rights a Civil Rights Issue? Two Laywers from opposite Ends of the
Ideological Spectrum Say "YES"" (n.d.): n. pag. The Washington Post. Web. Apr.-May 2014.
<www.washingtonpost.com>.

Littwin, Mike. "The Gay-Marriage Future Is Determined." (n.d.): n. pag. Real Clear Politics.
Web. Apr.-May 2014. <www.realclearpolitics.com>.