Free «Same Sex Marriage» Essay Paper

In these present times, the world is increasingly experiencing heated debate between the proponents of same sex marriage, and those against its legalization. Laws legalizing same sex marriage date back to the second decade of the 21^st century. Currently, only eleven countries in the world and nine states of the United States have fully enacted the law legalizing same sex marriage (The Pew Forum, Feb 2013). The support of same sex marriage is increasingly gaining a substantial ground with a call of nationwide legalization of the act in the United States by the already involved states. The act got its biggest boost in May 2009 when the US president Barrack Obama announced his support for gay and homosexual marriage (Los Angeles Times, 9^th May 2012). In addition, numerous court rulings in the word have as well ruled in favor of gay marriage, generally referred to as same sex marriage.

The central subject in this case is same sex marriage. It is therefore important to consider the opinions of both its proponents and those against its legalization. Proponents of gay marriage across the world would strongly center their argument on the issue of human rights. According to them, every human being has a right to choose his/her social life. Marriage forms one of the main stages of social life and therefore the choice of who to marry should not be dictated by external forces. Just like a man would choose a woman of his choice and marry upon agreement, proponents of same sex marriage do not see any problem with a man identifying another man and marrying upon agreement as well (US News Weekly, April 10^th 2013).

Those in support of same sex marriage strongly believe that same sex couples can raise children and become successful parents. According to the proponents of gay marriage, the couple can adopt children and provide the necessary parental care and love leading to an equally successful family. Financial, physical and psychological support is all what is needed for a healthy family, a situation which is possible in both normal and same sex marriages. It is therefore possible to raise a happy family with a same sex partner (The Pew Forum, Feb 2013).

On the other hand, the act is strongly condemned by a section of the society that believe it is immoral and against the universal rules of the society to marry same sex partner. The argument is mainly put forward by religious leaders who believe that God created man and woman for the sole purpose of companionship and therefore, a companion between two men/women is unethical (Daily Press, March 31^st 2013). It should however be noted that not all the religions go against same sex marriage. The modern Christianity, mainly composed of the youth, is among the current religions supporting same sex marriage.

On the issue of parenting and child up keep, they disagree with proponents of same sex. In their argument, children require both maternal and paternal love in their initial stages of growth. Such kind of love will absent in same sex marriages, which mainly adopt children (Daily Press, March 31^st 2013). The contribution of both the mother and the father of a child on his/her social life cannot be ignored. According to this section of the society, it would be doing injustice to such children adopted by same sex marriages as they lack the relevant opposite sex parental love and care.

Arguing in favor of the same sex marriage, I would say it is important for the world to respect human rights. The right to marry is emotionally driven by own consciousness and thus denial of such rights pose a big challenge to human social life. The right to choose a potential marriage partner is universal and thus gender should not be one of the barriers if the two couples agree to move on together in a same sex marriage.