Legalizing same-sex marriage Essay

Eliyahu Stiefel Mr.Hong English 1A 02/02/2012 Legalizing same-sex marriage has been a debate going on for quite some time. The recognition of such marriages is a civil rights, political, social, moral, and religious issue in many nations. Since 2001, ten countries have begun allowing same-sex couples to marry nationwide. In the United States the federal government does not recognize same-sex marriage, but such marriages are recognized by some individual states. Proposition 8 in November 2008 state elections, was a ballot proposition passed in California eliminating the right of same sex couples to marry. The measure added a new provision, Section 7.5 of the Declaration of Rights, to the California Constitution, which provides that â€Å"only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California. I will argue that same-sex marriage should be legalized as it does nothing to impede on heterosexuals and that same-sex marriage can possibly have very positive effects on society. I will also suggest that perhaps decisions such as same-sex marriage should not be under government jurisdiction and perhaps marriage altogether should be privatized. Legalizing same-sex marriage according to some opinions can have a very positive effect on society. Jonathan Rauch an avid proponent of same-sex marriage and author of Gay Marriage writes, †For gay couples, it will bring the stability and healthiness and happiness that marriage uniquely provides. For straight people it will bring all of the benefits of social stability that goes with marriage.†(Rauch) According to Rauch legalizing same-sex marriage can bring great benefits to society. Marriage causes people stay in more committed relationships, and when people are in committed relationships there is less promiscuity. A culture of marriage for gay people might not have stopped the [AIDS] virus altogether, but it certainly would have slowed the virus down, and saved who knows how many lives and who knows how much money and agony. Aside from the benefits that same-sex marriage can have on our society, the benefits that will reach the children of same-sex couples is also an important factor. Rauch estimates the number of children being raised in gay households to be around half a million. If society cares about marriage only for the sake of children, this is a large enough number to mean that, it ought to care about the many thousands of children in gay households. Children now being raised in gay households, feel left out because they don’t feel like a family since their parents are not permitted to be married. This is why many people feel that legalizing same-sex marriage will have no negative effect on society, and can in fact have a very positive effect on society. A great solution to the same-sex marriage debate would be to privatize marriage. Marriage contracts should not be written by the government, rather they should be written and agreed upon by the parties involved, and they should be enforceable by law. Lawrence Stone a historian noted for his work on marriage writes: â€Å"In the early Middle Ages all that marriage implied in the eyes of the laity seems to have been a private contract between two families. †¦ For those without property, it was a private contract between two individuals, enforced by the community sense of what was right.† (qtd Boaz) According to Lawrence Stone, marriage was always a contract between two individuals or two families that was created by them and enforced by the community based on what they felt was right or wrong. Privatizing marriage would therefore bring us back to the traditional way of marriage and would allow people to make decisions based on what they feel is right or wrong. In our society where the dissolution of a marriage is treated in much the same way as the dissolution of a business partnership; why not make the creation of marriage similar to the creation of a business partnership; agreed upon by parties involved and enforceable by law. Colin P.A. Jones a U.S. lawyer and professor at Doshisha University Law School in Kyoto, Japan suggested an idea on privatizing marriage: â€Å"Even greater efficiencies might be achieved through the establishment of marital corporations (MCs), each having hundreds or thousands of couples as stockholders, all sharing common values about marriage. Couples getting married would subscribe to the shares of an existing MC, whose charter documents would set forth the terms of the type of marriage to which the subscribing couples agree.† With this system all types of marriages would be available based on what MC you decided fits your moral standards. For some it may be a corporation that accepts same-sex marriage and for some it may be a marriage without any divorce solution. Governments and corporations may limit the types of MCs that they recognize for benefits purposes; however these decisions of what corporations to accept for benefits, would be based solely on what would benefit the economy and society. Also in 2006, Jewish libertarian Michael R. Paley author of When Secularism Becomes a Religion advocates the privatization of marriage, saying that the expression â€Å"holy matrimony†, ought to place marriage in the sphere of community, not state† Judaism agrees with the separation of community and state, at least until the Messianic Era; religious matters such as marriage ought to be within the jurisdiction of private religious officials, not public, civil ones. According to these opinions the same-sex marriage debate can be easily solved by privatizing marriage. According to some, legalizing same-sex marriage can have longtime negative effects on society. In today’s society we already experience the negative effects from unhealthy heterosexual marriages and divorces. By legalizing same-sex marriage we will just add to the instability that already exists in marriages. Legalizing same sex-marriage would tell society that marriage in general is â€Å"optional.† Giving people the option of same-sex marriage would change the definition of marriage. Marriage used to mean two people getting together in order to create a family, marriage will no longer be the creation of a family, but simply a confirmation of a relationship, or a commitment ceremony, with little meaning, and that would therefore cause fewer people to marry. With fewer marriages, the number of children being raised by single parents would increase. Research shows that children tend to do better when being raised by their two biological parents. While gay marriage would encourage adoption of children by homosexual couples, which may be preferable to foster care, some lesbian couples want to have children through anonymous sperm donations; this means that some children will be created purposely without knowledge of one of their biological parents. According to these opinions, legalizing same-sex marriage can therefore possibly cause negative effects on society. According to many opinions marriage privatization will not solve the debate on same-sex marriage. Opponents of marriage privatization argue that such a policy will simply shift the current debate over same-sex marriage to what kind of marriages the government should accept for benefit related purposes. Religious opponents of same-sex marriage feel that privatizing marriage and allowing people to create their own marriage contracts would be an endorsement of what they consider to be immoral unions between homosexual couples. Thus many of the same religious arguments aimed against same-sex marriage will still be applied to marriage privatization as well. Even if marriage contract were exclusively agreed upon between consenting adults, the vast types of contracts and corporations that administer these contracts would be so enormous, that it would be impossible for government to enforce these many different types of marriage contracts that would come about. This is why many people would agree that marriage privatization would not be the solution for the same-sex marriage debate. I would argue that these people that say that gay marriage will have a bad effect on society are wrong. We find these days those children who grow up in homes where they weren’t raised by their biological parents still end up growing up just as normal as children who are raised by their non-biological parents. The number of children that would benefit from legalizing gay-marriage by far outweighs the hypothetical negative effects that some say legalizing same-sex marriage would do. In a study by various pediatricians in 2005 on the effect that gay parenting has on their children. â€Å"In a Specific Census 2000 there are findings that in 96% of counties across the U.S., gay couples are raising children†, (Pediatrics Vol. 118) children raised by homosexual parents typically develop in ways that cannot be distinguished from their peers raised by heterosexual parents. In the study’s own words, â€Å"in fact, growing up with parents who are lesbian or gay may confer some advantages to children. (Pediatrics Vol. 118) They are described as more tolerant of diversity and more nurturing towards younger children than children raised by parents that are heterosexual. The benefit to the children is of primary, and the benefits of coming from a stable, committed, loving home are incredible and un-doubtable. Other aspects reviewed include the effect on the economy, which are startlingly positive. By allowing same sex couples to marry, the federal government would receive an additional $400 million in federal income tax revenue. With this study we can see that those who try to say that legalizing same-sex marriage will have a negative effect on society are wrong. I would like to conclude with saying that as a Jewish religious person it would be very easy for me to point out that the Torah forbids homosexuality and therefore my opinion would be that gay marriage should be absolutely unacceptable. However in America where we have many cultures and many different types of people with different ways of thinking their needs to be room for more than one way of life. Ethnocentrism throughout time has caused many hateful wars and there needs to be a way for people to reach agreement on issues like same-sex marriage which is a very strong issue in America. I would therefore hold the opinion that legalizing same-sex marriage does nothing to interfere with the rest of society. Ultimately the best thing that could happen to solve the same-sex marriage debate would be government taking itself completely out of the marriage business, and handing it over to the private sector.