Dear President, September 30, 2016

Within the United States people are harshly debating over to right to legalize gay marriage. Gay marriage has been a huge debate topic for years and now we the people are relying on the president and the government to make their decisions on this on going topic. Gay marriage is banned in 13 states but in the other 37 states it is legal. The federal government has given authority, specifically, to the state government to choose if they will legalizing gay marriage. People have argued that denying some people the option to marry is discriminatory and creates a second class of citizens. In the Declaration of Independence is a phrase that reads “The right to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness” which means that everyone has a right to live in a safe way along with being happy. If a couple is happy with who they are with they should have the right to marry that individual. However, people do see that as a problem that it is not traditional to marry someone of the same sex so it is frowned upon. Along with these couples getting the right to be happy they should have the right to the same benefits as traditional couples get. People should not be punished for they love and wish to be with because again it is their right to happiness. Also gay marriage is protected by the US Constitution's commitments to liberty and equality. Same-sex marriage is also a civil right. Marriage has changed over time to something completely different and the concept of a “traditional marriage” has not always been between a man and a woman historically speaking. Throughout the years of same-sex marriage it has been proven that gay couples make great parents. A June 2014 peer-reviewed University of Melbourne study showed that children raised by same-sex parents score about 6% higher than the general population on measures of general health and family cohesion. Banning gay marriage can hurt people such as the people who want to get married and their children. If a child is adopted with same sex parents they can often times have trouble with being with their parents if he/she’s parents are having trouble with marriage issues. Not only does banning same-sex marriage have an affect on the parents it has an effect on the child they are raising because the child might experience some of the stress the parents are having. Along with the 37 states that do support gay marriage many religious leaders and churches support gay marriage and say it is consistent with scripture. Religions have many different opinions about same-sex marriage but now that the topic is becoming more noticeable they have really cracked down on how they are going to deal with this topic.

The United States is a free country to the right of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. Within the Constitution and the Civil Right these people have a right to be how they want to be. Same-sex marriage is a way of happiness for these people and by banning it, the government is taking away their happiness which is in the Declaration of Independence. People have the right to live and be free in America.