Rough draft for Position Paper on Same Sex Marriage

According to an article on marriageequlity.org, there are currently 14 states that have anti-marriage laws in the U.S.  37 states including Washington D.C. allow same sex marriage. As of October 2014 17 Countries allow same sex couples to marry nationwide.  As of March 2015 there are 700,000 Americans married to a same sex spouse.  55% of Americans think it should be legalized nationwide.

My opinion on this is quite biased, and exactly that, my opinion. However, I hope with this argument to educate on the subject of same sex marriage from the point of view of someone who is in a same sex relationship. I have been in a same sex relationship for nearly two years.  I absolutely think that same sex marriage should be legalized everywhere, not just in our nation.  The power to say who gets to be with whom and who loves who belongs to no one. I have also been in support of it for as long as I can remember, well before I entered in to any of the same sex relationships I have been in.  I have a son who is nearly 8 years old and was with his father for ten plus years and even then I believed that living in a free country, everyone should be free to chose who they want to be with and who they love.  No one should be told "no you cannot marry who you chose to.” Love does not segregate and it is a basic human right to love and be loved.

Above and beyond the emotional arguments for same sex marriage, there is the technical part of a same sex couple who wishes to marry to be able to financially and medically care for each other. Finances are a challenge whether straight or same sex, not being able to legally line up finances, homeownership or parenting because of a marriage ban is frustrating.  According to the US Government Accounting Office marriage offers 1,138 federal benefits and responsibilities.  With marriage, a couple has the ability to be treated as an economic unit and to file joint tax returns and obtain joint health, home and auto insurance policies.  Statistical economic research from the Williams Institute shows that states benefit economically from marriage equality in addition.  So there is a financial benefit to the couple and to the state allowing the marriage.

Andrew Koppelman is a professor of law and politics at Northwestern University.  He recently wrote an article for Salon on the verdict for same sex marriage that the Supreme Court Justice is currently working on.  We should have an answer on this verdict sometime in June.  He states in this article “Yesterday’s Supreme Court hearing showed as clearly as anything could have that same sex marriage will prevail, not only because of the strength of its argument, but because those arguments meet no resistance.  The opposing view has become incomprehensible.”

In searching the opposition’s arguments, I found a lot of redundant argument, but nothing with any solid foundation.    The opposition argues that legalizing same sex marriage would lessen the protection of born and unborn children.  The SPUC states that marriage between a man and woman is the fundamental group unit in society.  They argue that same sex marriage lacks the basic elements of true marriage.  E.g. the complimentary sexual differences between spouses necessary for the procreation and healthy upbringing of children.  They also state that it represents an attempt to redefine marriage, thus undermining marriage.  They say that lessens the protection for unborn children which true marriage brings.

There is really no proof that same sex marriage puts the protection of born or unborn children at risk.  A Williams Institute analysis of census states that 31% of same sex couples who identified as spouses and 14% of unmarried are raising children. The majority of same sex couples who become parents with their partner have made the choice to be parents.  They have had to fight and work hard to become parents together. They have had to go through many expensive IVF treatments or lengthy and also costly adoption processes.  They do not become pregnant in a one night stand or without planning. These parents are not going to chose to give their child up for adoption or abortion.  Very likely they will work harder to be strong, stable parents because they have had to work so hard to become a parent; they are likely to appreciate it more.  A child who grows up with married parents benefits from the fact that his or her parents relationship is recognized by law and receives legal protection.  Another census analysis by the Williams Institute states that married same sex couples are five times more likely to be raising adopted or foster children than their different-sex counterparts and have more resources than unmarried same sex couples.  According to Planned Parenthood, in 2013 they performed 327,653 abortions; this is up from 2012 when they reported 327,166 abortions performed. Americanadoptions.com states in their 2007 breakdown of statistics that there were 677,000 domestic adoptions and 661,000 placed in foster care. These numbers are massive and a small percentage; if any of these children was a result of a same-sex relationship that decided to parent. 

The opposition also tries to argue that there will be a shocking impact on schools if same sex marriage is passed.  Another article the SPUC published, states that schools will become a focus for the promotion of radical and explicit homosexual material to school children.  In addition, they argue that same sex marriage will be used as a reason to silence objections by teachers and parents for explicit sex education.

Again, there is really no proof or background to this.  The idea that talking about same sex marriage or relationships leads to explicit material behavior and that heterosexual marriages and relationships do not is honestly, kind of ridiculous.  If they really do believe that only allowing same sex marriage to be legal and accepted will lead the children to explicit material or inappropriate behavior then they are exceptionally naive in their thinking of how things work now.  There is far more publicized explicit material and behavior in the media and schools today and passing a same sex marriage law will not change that or the way that explicit material is exposed to children. 

A large amount of bullying and suicides are the result of judgment on people in the LGBT community. According to a website called thetrevorproject.com, which gets its facts and statistics from the CDC among other sites; they state that Suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death among young people ages 10 to 24. LGB youth are 4 times more likely, and questioning youth are 3 times more likely, to attempt suicide as their straight peers. Suicide attempts by LGB youth and questioning youth are 4 to 6 times more likely to result in injury, poisoning, or overdose that requires treatment from a doctor or nurse, compared to their straight peers. Each episode of LGBT victimization, such as physical or verbal harassment or abuse, increases the likelihood of self-harming behavior by 2.5 times on average.  I hope that creating a community of tolerance and acceptance will greatly decrease those numbers if people feel they are free to be who they want to be and be with who they chose legally.  Marriage offers legal benefits and responsibilities that protect families.  It also provides emotional stability and benefits to the family unit. Studies have shown that married couples live longer, have higher incomes, engage less in risky behaviors, eat healthier and have fewer psychological problems than unmarried people.