Same-Sex Marriage

I believe that everyone should have the right to marry the person that they love regardless of sex. Seeing as I am personally affected by this, I am extremely biased, but that is not the only reason. "Making it official" really gives people a more committed feeling. That's not to say that two men or two women living together aren't in a committed relationship just as gratifying as a married man and women, but psychologically, it can be extremely important to some people. Aside from that, there are also huge amounts of legal benefits that come with marriage. In the article we read, there was an example about a woman who was unable to be in the room to support her partner/wife when she was giving birth to their child. Even though the doctors were aware of the fact that the woman was going to be the mother of this child, they would not allow her in because they weren't legally married. Really important issues like death and health are affected by marriage laws. I just can't understand how one person can look at another and say, "You do not deserve these rights because you fell in love with the wrong person, and you are living the wrong life." The exact same quote could have been used when interracial marriage was in debate. Now if you said a black person couldn't marry a white person, you would be ostracized by society.

However, though I believe that the government has no right to deny this to a couple for something that they were born being on the basis of religion, I think that a church should have the option of refusing to marry a couple. Separation of church and state means that the Bible should stay out of the laws, but I understand that some people will never be able to get past their prejudices. The benefits of marriage come with a legal certificate. Determining whether or not to preform the religious ceremony should be up to the individual congregations.