The Good, The Bad, and The Battle for Equality in Marriage

Salutations future President,

After same-sex marriage became legal in the U.S on June 26th, 2015, the lives of millions changed. Some were against the new law; some were supportive. But regardless of the opinions of the population, one thing was certain: hundreds of thousands of people were able to marry at last. After a decades-long battle for equal rights, the LGBT community had won. But now, with the upcoming election, they face another danger. With the possibility that the gay marriage law may be revoked with the new president being elected, those rights may be taken from them. If we make it so that this law is not revoked, then we can finally achieve equality and happiness.

If we allow same-sex marriage to remain legal, then many people will remain happy. Happiness is important, because without it, the world would be a much darker place. People would be sadder, less motivated, and would probably wind up with depression or anxiety due to the fear of what others think about them. It has been scientifically proven that married people have a tendency to live longer. It has also been proven that married couples have less health problems and are happier, therefore improving their work performance. This, in turn, boosts their salaries, allowing them to have more spending money, allowing them to live a happier life in general. And if people are happy, the world becomes a brighter place for all to live in.

There’s something a lot of people don’t realize. Something the opposition wants to deny. That one cannot choose their sexual orientation. Research has proven that the desire to be with someone of a specific gender comes from one’s genetic code and chromosomes. Scientists believe that daughters get masculine tendencies from their fathers, and sons get their feminine tendencies from their mothers. Even if they could choose to be gay, why would they? Although it’s true that some people have very supportive families, some people do not. A lot of gay, bisexual, or lesbian people get kicked out of their house, or bullied by their fellow classmates, or even beaten or killed by homophobes just because of who they are. Has it occurred to anyone that there is a reason people are still in the closet?

Another problem would be equality. Everyone deserves the right to marry. So why would we think, even for a second, about taking that happiness away from someone? There are so many things, so many rights that harm people more than the right to marry the person you love. Gun rights, for example, can literally kill people. Marrying the person you love, regardless of gender, may hurt a person’s feelings a bit, but it’s nothing they can’t handle. It’s genuinely surprising how so many people think same-sex marriage is a bad thing when we have, in this past year, had several horrible shootings due to inadequate gun laws. It’s sickening. The government hasn’t done much to stop these incidents, so why are they so keen on preventing marriage between two women, or two men? Marriage isn’t a privilege, it’s a right, and it would be wrong to take that right away from someone because of who they are.

If the government does so little to put laws on gun control, why do they care so much about the subject of same-sex marriage? Guns have killed too many people, and the most a simple marriage has done is made someone angry or upset. Yet, the government still considers the right to marry the person you want to marry a slightly bigger issue than gun violence. The government doesn’t tell a person what to wear, or what to say, but then they tell them who to marry. Marrying someone is just living one’s life, it’s something a majority of people do at some point in their lifespan. It’s not a big deal what gender the person someone is going to marry is. And it isn’t the government’s job to tell people who they can and cannot marry, just as much as it isn’t an individual person’s job.

Future president, there are many things you can do to stop this right from being taken from people. First of all, you can veto the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) again if it is brought up, a law which, before it was ruled unconstitutional stated that marriage was to only be between a man and a woman, and said that states can refuse to give marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Another idea is to propose equal protection laws, so that no state can deny anyone the right to marry. As an added note to that, you can also make all states abide by federal law. In the case of Kim Davis, a woman who denied a same-sex couple a marriage license in Kentucky, therefore defying a federal court order to let the couple be married; she went to jail and gained international attention. The best thing to do is leave the people who want to get married marry whoever they wish, regardless of gender.

To maintain ideal equality and happiness, gay marriage (as well as traditional marriage, of course) should remain legal in all 50 states. As it was mentioned before, the Declaration of Independence states that the pursuit of happiness is something we strongly believe in. But if we believe so strongly in the pursuit of happiness, then why are we so eager to steal that happiness away from someone? All we’re doing as a country by doing that is going back on our word, bringing sadness and anger to so many people. We’re being unreasonable and altering our beliefs just because some people’s beliefs counter the ones we have set. So don’t make it so that same-sex marriage is illegal again. Don’t let states make that decision for themselves.

Sincerely,

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Marielle Egizio-Hughes