Why I Am Against Same-Sex Marriage They say that Gay marriage is no longer a theoretical issue. Canada has it.

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Massachusetts is expected to get it any day. The Goodridge decision there could set off a legal, political, and cultural battle in the courts of 50 states and in the U.S. Congress. Every politician, every judge, every citizen has to decide: Does same-sex marriage matter? (Maggie Gallagher, What Marriage Is For, August 4/August 11, 2003: Children Need Mothers and Fathers, Volume 008, Issue 45). I say that I still believe in the sanctity of marriage and as an inviolable social institution. I am against sexual discrimination. Whether a person is gay or lesbian, I cannot do anything about that! But the issue on same-sex marriage is something I am quite more concerned about. Basically, the purpose of marriage is to legalize the union between a man and woman to live as husband and wife. This is the natural order of things. Another purpose of marriage is to procreate and protect the rights of the children especially in terms of hereditary succession. It also protects each spouses rights as a married couple. Married couples have mutual rights and obligations, such as the right to mutual financial support and (in the event of divorce or separation) to alimony and an equitable division of property; and they also receive certain state-provided benefits such as tax breaks, preferential immigration treatment, tenancy succession rights, health insurance benefits, and so on. (Ralph Wedgwood, What Are We Fighting For, The Harvard Gay and Lesbian Review in 1997). I say, to quote: Redefining marriage so that it suits gays and lesbians would require fundamentally changing our legal, public, and social conception of what marriage

Page 2 of 4 is in ways that threaten its core public purposes. (Maggie Gallagher, What Marriage Is For, August 4/August 11, 2003: Children Need Mothers and Fathers, Volume 008, Issue 45). You may say I am still too young to know these things. No, I am 20 years old and I care so much about the society. I care about the children who may be confused with the real concept of the ideal meaning of a family that a family has a father and a mother with a child or children who may not experience this when they have same-sex parents who live as husband and wife. Now, tell me who will be the mother between gays, and who will be the father between lesbians? I respect gays and lesbians. That is part of their individuality. But when it come to same-sex marriage, it is going to be another story. Maybe this portion of a notable story can shed light on this matter. .Evan has two moms. This is no big thing. Evan has always had two moms--in his school file, on his emergency forms, with his friends. Ooooh, Evan, youre lucky, they sometimes say. You have two moms. It sounds like a sitcom, but until last week it was emotional truth without legal bulwark. That was when a judge in New York approved the adoption of a six-year-old boy by his biological mothers lesbian partner. Evan. Evans mom. Evans other mom. A kid, a psychologist, a pediatrician. A family. (Anna Quindlen, Evans Two Moms, New York Times, February 5, 1992). It is important to consider the social, mental, emotional and psychological impacts of this highly-sensitive issue to the children concerned. Children have the right to have a

Page 3 of 4 normal family, to live a morally-upright background, and to live in peace and happily. If you are the biological mother who is married to a lesbian, how would you feel if your child comes home one day from school crying because he has been ostracized, laughed or mocked at, and even insulted by the other children in school for having such parents? How can you explain this situation to a child with such a tender age?

Counterarguments
Why am I Against Same-Sex Marriage? You may agree or disagree but here is my opinion. I am not against any creed or race for this is an issue of Universal concern. Again, I say I have nothing against the third sex. I respect them as people who are also entitled to rights and the enjoyment of their dignity. There is nothing wrong about people of the same-sex adopting or raising children since it can be considered as a humanistic compulsion driven by compassion to care for and offer shelter particularly if the situation involves a poor and homeless child. However, getting themselves into marriage is truly a destruction of the moral fibers of the society and the time-honored tradition of the meaning and purpose of the word marriage. They can live together as a couple for life without taking marriage into the scene. This is more acceptable for a lot of gay people have been successful in their respective lives and in the aspect of rearing children. But as to marriage, I sayit is a big NO! Perhaps you can look at this issue in a bigger picture. Try to view things and their consequences in a neutral perspective, putting aside self-interest and giving paramount consideration on the real-life scenario more particularly where children

Page 3 of 4 are involved. On the other hand, whether there are or no children in the scene between the same-sex couple, marriage is not an ultimate solution if the issue is because We fell in love; we wanted to spend our lives together. (Anna Quindlen, Evans Two Moms, New York Times, February 5, 1992). Based on this premise, I say I am against same-sex marriage. Your opinion is likewise appreciated. Feel free to contact or post comments or questions. Thank you for reading this piece of writing. ----------------------------------------Web pages: What Marriage Is For by Maggie Gallagher - Common Sense Issues http://commonsenseissues.com/what-marriage-is-for/%3FphpMyAdmin %3D6825b49f75ef8d29598ed35d... - Cached Anna Quindlen http://instructors.cwrl.utexas.edu/bloom/system/files/Anna%2520Quindlen,%2520Evan %27s%2520... - Cached THE SYMBOLISM OF RIGHTS AND THE COSTS OF SYMBOLISM ... Ralph Wedgwood, What Are We Fighting For http://heinonlinebackup.com/hol-cgibin/get_pdf.cgi%3Fhandle%3Dhein.journals/tempcr7%26sec... Marriage just lets the state back in. - Free Online Library Marriage just lets the state back in ... Kerry Howley ... http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Marriage%2Bjust%2Blets%2Bthe%2Bstate%2Bback %2Bin.-a011073358... - Cached