For the last couple of decades same-sex marriage has been argued about actively and widely. This issue has now been turned into a massive social problem that creates heated discussions all around the world. The public recognition of the rights of homosexual people has given a push to the further development of the rights of the gay and lesbian community. Marriage is known to be a highly important aspect of people’s lives, this is why same-sex couples are fighting for the right to be able to engage into same-sex marriages freely and without being judged or discriminated. The society of nowadays is divided into the groups of people that support the rights of same-sex couples to marry and the groups that are against the recognition of such rights and allowing homosexual marriages legally. The arguments and discussions are never ending because the groups of proponents and opponents of this issue are basically equal in numbers. The subject of the argument is very serious, the advantage of the proponents is minimal and both of the sides have quite strong arguments to base their points of view on.
The concept of same-sex marriage stands for the marriage with all the standard legal rights, benefits and regulations for people of the same sex, meaning gay and lesbian couples. The concept includes all the legal aspects of marriage such as pension rights, tax breaks, social status, property rights, health insurances and, of course, the rights for adoption. Basically, the demand is that same-sex couples should be allowed to engage into legal marriages and homosexual married couples should have all the same rights and social benefits as the heterosexual couples.
There are several main arguments that a part of the society employs against the allowance of same-sex marriages. The first one of these arguments is that homosexual unions are unnatural. They are even called “a crime against mother nature”. This means that engaging into homosexual relationships contradicts the natural ways of choosing mates. The supporters of this arguments state that there is no such thing as homosexual relationships in the world of animals; this is why they suggest that homosexuality among humans is an artificial choice and it works against the laws of nature and the proper order of things. The second very popular argument against same-sex unions is that such relationships contradict the way of life that the humanity has been practicing for centuries and generations. This means that same-sex couples go against the rules of the society. They ruin the basic traditions that support the normal lifestyle of their society and its very important customs.
The next argument goes into the meaning of marriage itself exploring the role of marriage in the social life. It implies that the main purpose of marriage is childbirth, and since gay and lesbian couples are unable to conceive, they should not be given the right to engage into marriages. Finally, one of the most common claims against same-sex relationships is based on religious teachings and states that homosexuality is a Biblical sin and should be eliminated completely. The supporters of this argument see same-sex unions as a dangerous and harmful influence on the society in general.
The proponents of same-sex marriage emphasize that the importance of remembering about human rights according to which all people are equal and each member of the society initially possesses the right for marriage and family notwithstanding the person’s sexual orientation. Besides, they state that people’s sexual orientation is not a choice, but something they are born with, this aspect of a human personality is formed on the fetal stage and cannot be changed. The supporters of same-sex marriage also note that it would not harm the society in any way, on the contrary, it will bring multiple benefits, such as the higher rates of adoption and the decreasing of the numbers of abandoned children and orphans.
As for my personal opinion about this highly important social issue, I definitely share the point of view of the supporters of same-sex marriage. My way of thinking is not based on religious teachings or my private life. Stating my opinion I rely mainly on logic and the rules of equality for all people. Western world claims to be a place with all kinds of social freedoms, a place where the residents can enjoy being a part of democratic society and be appreciated for who they are. This is why I think that basing personal points of view on old-fashioned rules and stating that same-sex relationships are wrong and homosexual people should be “fixed” is unwise.
I agree with the opinion that giving the right for marriage to homosexual couples would create many positive influences on the society, one of which will be the alleviation of the pressure created by this problem and discussions of it. Legalization of same-sex marriages will allow homosexual couples register their relationships legally and start participating in social programs that bring benefits to married couples and the society in general. The right for adoption for same-sex married couples creates massive opportunities for many orphans to find homes and loving families giving them a chance to grow up in better surroundings, receive proper up-bringing and education, live full and happy lives having two parents and all the benefits of growing up as normal human beings without limitations and complexes that may be caused by absence of parental love and support. Besides, I think that that relying strongly on the rules proposed by various religious teachings is limiting because it is socially accepted that a large part of the modern society does not practice any religion and does not attend any churches. To my mind, the freedom of religion in the society is equal to the right of having different sexual orientation and neither of the members of the society should be judged according to the orientation they have. I also consider the desire to “fix” people with non-traditional sexual orientation as a way of discrimination.
The individuals that do not share my point of view are most likely to state that giving the homosexual couples the right for marriage would destroy the norms of social built that people have been accustomed to for centuries, which would lead to social disorder and the ruination of morals. The people that rely on old-fashioned traditions are afraid that the alteration of conventional social rules will jeopardize the whole system of beliefs and the standard ways of social behavior. This is the fear of the unknown that is very natural for any human beings. The idea of adoptions for same-sex married couples does not seem so good either to the opponents of homosexual marriage.
The most typical argument against adoption for same-sex couples is that the child growing up in such family will end up having distorted perceptions of the way a family should be and will definitely start having wrong ideas about the relationships between opposite sexes. Besides, the opponents of adoption for homosexual couples normally say that this is immoral for a child to observe a non-traditional relationship since babyhood because this may lead to frustration and reversed morality of the child.
One more opposing opinion states that people with non-traditional sexual orientations are simply lost in their life and choices, they are frustrated by the mistakes of their youth and they need help with finding the right way of living in order to start a happy new life that is accepted by the society. There are many religious communities that offer their services to homosexual people looking for a major change. These communities explain that through finding god the homosexual lost people receive a chance of becoming “normal” and fully functional members of the society ready to start traditional families and conceive children with people of opposite sex.
To respond to the opposing opinions, I first of all would like to state that homosexuality is proved to be a part of an individual’s personality that is shaped on the fetal stage. This is why it is impossible to change it just like it is impossible to change the color of hair or eyes. One can dye their hair or get contact lenses, but the natural color will still remain the same. This is why the majority of people that went through a community program designed to “fix” their orientations report that basically nothing changed and they remained who they are. Besides, I see nothing bad in the concept of adoption of children by same-sex couples. For some reason the opponents of adoption for same-sex marriage do not consider single parent families wrong and do not state that children growing up without a parent are going to have wrong morals. Basically, people that oppose adoption for homosexual couples state that it is better if a child grows up in an orphanage than gets accepted into a same-sex family, I find this statement illogical.
The opinion that traditional rules of marriage and social behavior will be ruined by the legalization of same-sex unions is also quite weak because for generations the only rule of marriage for our society had been the arranged marriage. Today this rule has changed, contemporary people are allowed to choose their own life partners and the human right number sixteen that explains people’s right for marriage and family states that “marriage should be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses” (Marriage and Family, par. 2).
Today arranged and forced marriages are being treated as an old-fashioned custom that contradicts with human rights and allows no freedom of personal choice. The gradual disappearance of this tradition in the western society did not lead to any ruination of morals or the disorder in social behavior. Moreover, the human right for marriage and family legally spreads to all of the members of our society; this is why people of neither sexual orientation should be stripped of this right. Finally, there are multiple scientifically documented cases proving that at least five hundred species of animals can engage into homosexual behaviors such as pair bonding, affection, parenting and sexual activities. This means that non-traditional sexual orientation is not only shaped on the fetal stage, but is also natural.
Works Cited
Marriage and Family. United for Human Rights. 2014. Web.