Should Gay Marriages Be Legal?

Should gay marriages be legal? Clearly we as a nation are undecided on this issue.

36 states have passed legislation banning gay marriages, yet the state of Vermont recently

passed a law that allows homosexual couples the right to participate in civil unions. Some

other states are also debating whether or not to allow these couples to marry.

Unfortunately, the dispute has left the United States homosexual community in an

awkward position. There are some people who think that gay people have no rights and

should never be allowed to marry. Other people believe that gay people are just like

anyone else and should enjoy the same rights and privileges as heterosexuals do. I think

that the United States should allow these couples to marry just like any other couple.

There are many opponents of gay people as it is, and they all have their reasons to

dislike the idea of letting them get married. One of the main reasons is that the primary

purpose of marriage is procreation. Because gay couples are unable to have children, they

should not be allowed to marry (Schiffen 495). Another main argument is that the word

marriage means the union of one man and one woman. This is a long-standing theme of

most major Western religions. Under a proposed bill known as the Defense of Marriage

act, marriage is defined as "a legal union between one man and one woman as husband

and wife." Furthermore, it defines a spouse as " a person of the opposite sex ...