Gay marriage is a controversial topic in the United States. Many believe that gay marriage should be permitted throughout the country, while others believe that it should be banned. It is against basic civil and human rights to prohibit gay marriage. It is unfair treatment to members of the gay community to deny them the right to marry. Marriage is a personal commitment between two individuals as an expression of love.

Gay marriage is a human right, and to prohibit gay marriage would be a violation of those rights. Many argue that prohibiting gay marriage is unconstitutional. US District Judge Vaughn wrote that banning gay marriage is unconstitutional under the Due Process Clause and Walker the Equal Protection Clauses. These clauses state that “The Due Process Clause in both the Fifth and 14th Amendments of the US Constitution states that no person shall be ‘deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.’ [111] The Equal Protection Clause in the 14th Amendment states that no state shall ‘deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.’ [112]” (“Gay Marriage ProCon”). By denying the gay community the right to marry, it deprives them of life and liberty; the rights of the constitution. The right to life and liberty is a basic civil right that includes all of the American people.

Marriage is an expression of love and commitment between two people that improves their life. An article by Martha Nussbaum called A Right to Marry? Same Sex Marriage and Constitutional Law the author defines marriage. She explains that "The institution of marriage houses and supports several distinct aspects of human life: sexual relations, friendship and companionship, love, conversation, procreation and child-rearing, mutual responsibility” (Nussbaum). Marriage is between two individuals, just because they are of the same sex does not change the meaning of marriage or lessen the amount of love between the couple. Also, by allowing gay marriage, it also opens up many government benefits to the married gay community. Nussbaum also mentions that married couples have  “favorable treatment in tax, inheritance, and insurance status; immigration rights; rights in adoption and custody; decisional and visitation rights in health care and burial… ” (Nussbaum). Gay marriage improves the lives of gay couples not only by allowing them to express their love, but it also allows them to gain all of the legal benefits given to married couples.

The novella Anthem by Ayn Rand, tells a fictional story about the main character Equality 7-2521 and his journey in finding his independence and individuality in a collectivist society. In Anthem members of the society have their freedom and many basic human rights stripped from them. This relates to gay marriage as a basic human right and how it was inaccessible to the gay community until recently. One example, is how members of the society in Anthem are forbidden to have any romantic or sexual relationship. Only once does Equality mention relationships between men and women, “Children are born each winter, but women never see their children and children never know their parents. Twice have we been sent to the Palace of Mating, but it is an ugly and shameful matter, of which we do not like to think” (Rand 41). This fictional society has forbidden any relationship between man and woman, a natural and healthy relationship in life. By banning gay marriage, it too denies the gay community to continue into an even more serious and natural relationship. Later on in the novella, Equality escapes his community and a woman, named Liberty, whom he calls the Golden One, follows him. They build a life and a relationship together and find themselves; who they truly are as individuals. Once they are able to escape society, they find that they love each other and that it is not a sinful matter to have a romantic, sexual relationship. After Equality, now called Prometheus, and Liberty, now called Gaea, learn the significance of “I”, the confess their love for each other. Prometheus explains that “...I shall live in my own truth. Gaea is pregnant with my child. Our son will be raised as a man. He will be taught to say ‘I’ and to bear the pride of it” (Rand 100). Prometheus and Gaea escape the restrictions of society and learn to love each other and are able to express their true selves. This relates to the restrictions society put on the gay community, but, by allowing gay marriage, they can be their true selves and have the freedom to marry whomever they love.

Others may argue against gay marriage for different reasons. Some say that allowing gay marriage goes against the tradition of marriage, or that marriage has to be between a man or a women. An article on Fox News called Gay marriage: Why Supreme Court got it wrong, the author asks the question, “The reason for the drop in the heterosexual marriage rate is clear:  if marriage can be redefined to include any and every relationship, then why bother to marry at all?” (Jeffress). The author argues that if gay couples are allowed to marry, what’s the point of marriage any more. However, marriage is a statement of commitment to a life-long relationship and love. Those aspects are in any true romantic relationship, no matter the genders. To refuse a couple who are committed to each other and in love, solely because it “breaks the tradition of marriage”, is illegitimate logic and reason. Not only does banning same-sex marriage have no proper reasoning, it also violates basic human rights and is unconstitutional.

Gay marriage is a civil, human right and marriage is a personal commitment between any couple. Nonetheless, people continue to argue that gay marriage should be banned because it destroys the tradition of marriage. Gay relationships are just as serious as any other relationship and the the Due Process Clause and Walker the Equal Protection Clauses provide evidence that to ban gay marriage is unconstitutional.