"The fact is that it is not a choice to be black, but it is obviously a choice to be homosexual”, argues Bob Inglis when a group of gay rights activists were trying compare their fight for equality of marriage with the African-American civil rights movements. If it is really a “choice” to be homosexual, then it is a choice to be heterosexual. I did not wake up one morning and decide to be heterosexual; I just was.
Massachusetts was the first state to legalize gay marriage in 2004, and since then their divorce rate has declined 21%. On the other hand, Alaska, the first state to actually change their constitution to prohibit homosexual marriage, increased their divorce rate by 17.2%. “The seven states with the highest divorce rates between 2003 and 2008 all had constitutional prohibitions to gay marriage.”(Nate Silver)
One argument I have encountered is that if we allow gays to marry, they cannot produce offspring. Not only is it not a requirement to produce offspring if married, but wouldn’t that eliminate marriage rights for infertile heterosexual couples as well? A high percentage of gay couples do wish to adopt. Allowing them this equality of marriage will make it easier for homosexual couples to adopt. Over 100,000 orphans are waiting to be adopted in the United States. By denying homosexuals this right, not only is it unfair obviously, but it is also denying hundreds of thousands of orphans to be adopted.
By allowing homosexual couples marriage equality “they will have access to basic rights such as hospital visitation during an illness, taxation and inheritance rights, access to family health coverage, and protection in the event of the relationship ending.”(www.freedomtomarry.org) Can you imagine not being able to visit your loved one in the hospital because of your marital status or lack thereof?
Race, gender, age, religion, and sexual orientation are all protected classes. Legally we cannot discriminate against them. Yet we do every day that we do not allow the marriage of homosexuals. Just because homosexuality isn’t a skin color, doesn’t mean that is isn’t discrimination to deny them rights.