Op-Ed Piece

“All Men Are Created Equal”

We live in a very hypocritical country. That being said I think it also needs to be noted that we live one of the best countries on this planet. One that offers freedoms and opportunities that are unmatched. But in the American “melting pot” where diversity is said to be what makes this nation so unique and fascinating, there is a discrimination plight that has become so large it is said to be our day’s civil rights movement. Across the United States homosexuals, and heterosexuals for that matter, are fighting for gay rights, primarily the right to marriage.

A common argument surrounding gay marriage and why it should not be legalized is that fact homosexuals cannot reproduce. But this argument assumes that the sole purpose of marriage is to procreate. I then am forced to pose the question: What about couples who are infertile? Or those who choose not to have children? Or women who are married and postmenopausal? If this argument were valid then all marriages between heterosexual couples that fall under these categories should be nullified, because the couples can’t or won’t have children. And if that were to occur it would surely cause an uproar among the population because of the discrimination of these certain couples. Then why is there not an uproar over the fact that this is occurring to homosexual couples? This goes to show that marriage serves more than just the purpose of procreation but interpersonal commitment, religious reasons, morality and sexual satisfaction, and the legal entitlements of having a spouse, or so says the author of The Case For Same-Sex Marriage, William Eskridge Jr. Since it’s understood that the reasons listed for marriage other than procreation are valid, we cannot in turn deny the right of marriage to homosexuals because they cannot reproduce.

Within the union of marriage there are approximately 1,049 rights allotted to heterosexual couples and of course denied to homosexuals. In an Editorial from March of 2000, the New Jersey Law Journal gives some examples of rights denied to committed same-sex couples. “Same sex couples who are prohibited from marrying are excluded from a panoply of legal benefits specifically tied to legally recognized marriage: for example, access to a spouse's medical, life and disability insurance; hospital visitation and medical decision-making privileges… workers' compensation survivor benefits; spousal benefits under annuity and retirement plans…the right to refuse to testify against one's spouse…” These rights granted to only legally married couples can affect those who are not married, whether they are homosexual or heterosexual. But heterosexual couples have the right to change this and become married, homosexuals however do not.

Based on gender homosexuals are discriminated against each day by denying them the right to marriage and all other rights that ensue from this union. Gay marriage should be legalized in the United States, it’s as simple as that. The injustice that homosexuals face every day is appalling and needs to come to an end by granting these rights.