Gay Marriage

"Gay marriage is a threat to the survival of the planet", said James Dobson (Focus on the Family). Gay marriage is a controversial event that is largely in the media currently. Many people, such as James Dobson, do not accept the concept of homosexuals having the right to marry.

I have always known that some people do not agree with gay marriage, but I never knew the extent to why people feel this way. I learned in class the different views some people have on the subject. As discussed in class, some of the reasons people may oppose gay marriage is because they believe marriage is a religion or civil matter, or marriage is only for procreation (Williams, B., Sawyer, S., Wahlstrom, C., 2013). I did not realize this is why most people found it threatening. I thought people were just intolerant of something "different" or not the "norm". Anytime the subject of gay marriage being wrong was brought up, I usually refused to listen and never heard the person's views as to why it is wrong. I become personally offended because my mother is a lesbian.

I grew up widely accepting same-sex couples. As a child, anytime someone was not understanding of gay people, I was confused. Now that I am older, I understand that every person has their own view, but I am honestly still bewildered that people can be remarkably against the idea of gay marriage. In my opinion, not allowing someone to marry another person whom is of the same sex is like not allowing interracial marriage. People used to be just as baffled by interracial marriage as they are to same-sex marriage now. Someone saying that gay marriage is a threat sounds like racism, but in regards to sexual orientation, to me. I respect others views and opinions, but the discrimination among gay people should be more acknowledged.

In my experience, the younger generations are more accepting and understanding. Where as the older generations have set views that gay marriage is wrong. As we said in class, as time passes and the people who are young now become the older generation, maybe gay marriage will be fully accepted. Some changes already are being made, though. According to the Washington Post, seventeen states and D.C. allow same-sex marriage, and ten states recognize unions and partnerships. Although thirty-three states still have same-sex marriage banned, there is progress being made (Ahuja, Barnes, Chow, Reviro, 2014).

The Washington Post also displays graphs that illustrate our discussion that older generations are less accepting of same-sex marriage. The graph shows that in 2013, 44% of people 65 and older agree same-sex marriage should be legal, which is an increase in comparison to 21% in 2004. In 2013, 81% of people ages 18-24 agree that gay marriage should be legal. This information shows us that people are becoming more accepting, but older generations are still less accepting than the younger generations about gay