Same Sex Marriage

There has been a debate about whether gay and lesbian persons should be allowed to marry. I will attempt to express society’s belief about why they are either opposed to or are in favor of gay and lesbian marriages. Then I will continue by expressing my own personal stance about this issue and the view on this issue from the perspective of a social worker.

Pro

  There are several reasons that society feels that gay and lesbian persons should be allowed to marry. These include the fact that keeping them from marrying denies religious freedom, promotes monogamy, and will grant a civil right that has been denied to gay and lesbians partners.

I would like to open up this pro argument of society with a quote from that I found from a debate of whether homosexuality is a result of nature or nurture. “Homosexuality is neither a mental illness nor a moral depravity. It is the way a portion of the population expresses human love and sexuality.” Scientists have tested this matter and have determined that there are biological differences between heterosexual and homosexuals that help prove that homosexuals are produced and not created. In the studies done scientist have found that homosexuals have enlarged hypothalamus “which is the portion of the human brain directly related to sexual drive and function”. The researchers’ results go on to say that it has nothing to do with environment and that it is mainly due to “prenatal cerebral development and structural differentiation”, which means that if this is a nature occurrence then to deny it would be discrimination. The same way it is considered discrimination when we deny a disabled individual an employment opportunity because of his disability.

Those in favor of gay and lesbian marriages also note that the denial of this practice also violates their civil rights. This is stated because by law if a gay or/and lesbian couple are not wed and one partner, because extremely ill, is in the hospital or passes away the rights that the surviving partner has are limited. The surviving partner has no legal right to make any medical decision, if the families of the deceased decide to contest any property left to the surviving partner then the family normally wins because there are not laws that protect this from happening and marriage is currently not an option.