Gay Marriage Research Paper
The United States’ Declaration of Independence reads, “[We] hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” and Abraham Lincoln in his Gettysburg Address furthers, “[the] [United States’] fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” But in the United States today, not all are equal. Within the majority of the United States, same-sex couples cannot be married or reap the benefits of said marriage. Marriage is basic to the recognition as equals in society and any status short of this becomes inferior, unjust and unconstitutional. Our nation cannot live up to its promise of equality and the fundamental rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, until the invidious discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is done away with. Equality under the law extends to all persons. Legalizing same-sex marriage, a recognition of basic American principles, would represent the culmination of our nation’s commitment to equal rights. Americans and those who believe and live by the words of the Declaration of Independence, Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, the 14th Amendment, and in the Constitution’s guarantees of equal protection and equal dignity before the law cannot stand idle while this wrong continues. Any prohibitions on same-sex marriage, whatsoever, are entirely discriminatory. Gay rights are civil rights and all Americans should have the right to marry the person of their choice, regardless of their sexual orientation. Thus, same-sex marriage should be legalized in the United States. Sadly but moreover shamefully, the United States government discriminates among its citizens all the time. During the 1920s, “38 states prohibited whites from marrying black and certain Asians” (Levy 1). Until 1954, all
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