Imagine that it was illegal to be with the person you love. I’m sure many of you here have girlfriends or boyfriends but imagine being told that by law you couldn’t be with them. There are a lot of people out there that think being gay is a choice but try walking in the shoes of a gay couple for one day and you will realize all the hardships and struggles you have to go through just to be accepted in society. Up until I met my good friend who is gay, I never really had a strong opinion on the matter or realized how wrong it was to make gay marriages illegal. There are many arguments against same sex couples being able to legally marry, but I am here to convince you that legalizing gay marriage would strengthen families, protect individuals’ rights to choice and privacy, and prevent discrimination.
There are many people that believe that allowing same sex marriages will corrupt America’s family values. But in reality, legalizing gay marriages would only strengthen families with same-sex parents. Some argue that children are better off raised in a male-female headed household. But I believe that it is the quality of the upbringing, not the sexual orientation of the parents that ensures the well-being of children and their healthy development. Preventing a loving same sex couple from making a legal commitment to each other can only hurt their children. Imagine a lesbian couple with two children. If their partnership so happened to dissolve, it is possible that the woman who actually gave birth to the children could band her partner from seeing them. By law the non-birth mother has no rights and she could very well never see her children again.
I believe that anyone who respects individual’s rights to make choices about their private lives should respect the right for same-sex couples to marry. Americans have always been able to speak freely, live and travel wherever they choose, and practice religious beliefs that suit them best. But why should the...