Gay Marriage - Equal Rights for Everyone - Research Paper Example

? Gay Marriage Introduction The topic of equal gay rights is one of the most important issues in the modern society. For the modern the topic of equal rights for gays equals to the topic of equal rights for any other human being. Gay marriage is one of the most dramatic issues, because protagonists and antagonists of the issue have vivid discussions around this topic. The first point to be covered in the paper is the discussion of the New York State Senate and the law, which regulated gay marriage in the state. This governmental regulation is the significant move forward promotion and legalization of gay marriage. The second point to be considered is the protection of the issue about gay rights for marriage considered by Laura Kipnis, where the author identifies the necessity of gay marriage as a logical emotional and social conclusion of the relationships among gay couples. The third point to be considered is the negative attitude toward legalization of gay marriage, because very often these relationships are considered only with regards to sexual and intimate relations among gay couples. The fourth point to be taken into account is positive attitudes to gay marriage, because gays as a rule are devoted partners and contribute much not only to their families, but also to the community and the society. The fifth point, which should be taken into account, is that homosexuality is not a kind of deviance and these people have the same rights as all of the rest of the members of the society. Analysis and Evaluation Jullian Rayfield in her online review "New York State Senate Passes Marriage Equality Bill" (24 June, 2011) is focused on gay marriage legalization in New York. The author generalizes her main concerns and introduces the supportive arguments for the introduction of gay marriage. A centennial struggle happened in the society, where gays wanted to protect their rights and have an opportunity to live together with their sexual partners. Nowadays this struggle has borne some fruits and led to the legalization of gay marriage in the New York State Senate. The author of the article provides her main argument referring to the answers of Republicans and other representatives of political parties, providing supporting and counterarguments to the discussion of gay rights marriage. Social participation of gays and their restriction from heterosexual individual rights is the most controversial claim. Nowadays we have a perfect opportunity to raise our voices in order to protect gay community. Moreover, the author of the article provides positive answers of the members of the Senate, who are much concerned an opportunity of all people to behave equally and have a chance to provide gay couples with a right to get married. The processes of globalization underline the necessity of limits blurring and there is no need to save worn out stereotypes and social norms. Republicans underline that inability to pass this law would mean to hide the democratic principles of their policy. To have a right for marriage means to have an ability to live with a beloved person. So, if gays have their beloved persons, why do not they have a chance to spend their lifetime together? The development of the community and the society depends on all members of the society. Gay couples have the same rights as all other members of the society. Unfortunately, very often these people are prevented from children upbringing or even being married. Still, we have a hope that there is an essential shift towards the gay rights for marriage acknowledgement throughout the country. If to consider the second point of the paper, which is based on Laura Kipnis appeal for the society to provide all human beings with an opportunity to get married, it is the only way to hold beloved hearts together and to establish a kind of a societal bound between them. Gays should be treated equally and there is no need to focus our attention on their sexual or intimate preferences. Kipnis underlines that contemporaries should focus their attention on the concept of marriage from the different perspective. The society has changed and social norms or moral beliefs and stereotypes should have changed as well. Heterosexual marriage is considered from another perspective as well. Women are not housekeepers any more. They are inspired and self-assured individuals with clear career goals. The same happens to a new institution of marriage, gay marriage. This social institution is full of new ideas and numerous approaches are developed within it. It is only should be clearly noted that gays are not less devoted spouses than those from heterosexual couples. Kipnis clearly specifies that the government is interested in the marriage promotion in the society, because it is the right way to social integration and taking control over individuals (Kipnis, 2006). Gays, as well as heterosexuals, should have an opportunity to “come to glimpsing utopia in our lifetimes” (Kipnis, 2006). Therefore, from this perspective a promotion of gay marriage is just another form of governmental control over the society. Morality of gay marriage is discussed by Bidstrup. The author of the article underlines the appropriateness of gay marriage morality. On the one hand, it is immoral to forbid someone to have some kind of relations with someone else. On the other hand, there are certain immoral implications in gay marriage, which were the main social controversies have in the society. Gay marriage is often discussed from the perspective of their sexual relations. The main concern is focused on ability of gay couples to be able to have something more between them than sexual pleasure. There is a need for contemporaries to consider gay’s rights to be married as other rights of the citizens. There is a need to approve marriage among gay in order to underline the citizen’s rights equality. It is often discussed that homosexuals are unstable in their relations. Nevertheless, straight couples are not always stable in their relations. The point here is to acknowledge that contemporaries are equal members of the society and there is no need to diminish their rights. Moral stereotypes were obtruded on the members of the society for years and set behavioral templates in the society should be changed in accordance with the changed social vision and perspective. When we talk about loyalty of gay partners as good parents of loving and tolerant spouses, we take in to account the claim made by Nava and Dawidoff (1995): “loyal to their mates, are monogamous, devoted partners. They value and participate in family life, are committed to making their neighborhoods and communities safer and better places to live, and honor and abide by the law” (p. 23). We can see that the modern society requires approval of gay marriage and the couples should be able to participate in the social lives of their communities and the society in general. Moreover, there is a need to provide gay couples with more options to adopt children. Gays are not bad parents. Sometimes they are even more attentive than straight parents. Marriage is incomplete without children thus it is desirable to provide gays with an opportunity to adopt children and cultivate attentiveness and tenderness of these couples (Eskridge, 1996). From different perspective it should be noted that “gay marriage would threaten an institution of marriage or lead to a “slippery slope" towards legalized incest, bestial marriage, polygamy and all manner of other horrible consequences” (Bidstrup). At this point it should be noted that being gay is not a “slippery slope”, it is an individual’s essence and not a way to depravity. Legalization of gay marriage does not mean a propagation of it. It is a provision of gays with an option to have their relations legalized. We should better take into account positive desire of gays to be together on a legal basis in order to create more socially favorable families, full of tolerance, love and respect. Conclusion and Recommendations Gay marriage should be legalized in order to prove the democratic principles of the society. To have equal rights for everyone is one of the most important concerns for the contemporaries. Unfortunately, there are still antagonists of gay marriage, but very often these people are driven by their homophobic beliefs. There is a need to reshape social worn-out beliefs and old moral stereotypes about gays and redirect societal concerns to more humane attitudes expressed in relation to sexual minorities. Therefore, in the field of social researches and studies, it is better to focus not on a perverted vision of gay marriage, but on the ability of the contemporaries to have an opportunity to live freely in the modern democratic society. For this purpose, tolerant policies at schools, colleges and Universities, in the communities and in the society should be promoted. A humane attitude to gays and gay marriages describes the contemporaries as those having a right to make a choice and to get connect one’s life with a beloved person in the society, which is tolerant to such kind of relations. Works cited 1. Bawr, B. A Place at The table. Simon & Schuster, 1994. 2. Bidstrup, Scott. "Gay Marriage, the Arguments and the Motives". Web. 16 Dec. 2011. 3. Eskridge, W. N. The Case for Same-Sex Marriage: From Sexual Liberty to Civilized Commitment. Free Press, 1996. 4. Kipnis, Laura. "Something's Missing." Women's Studies Quarterly 34.3/4 (2006): 22+. 5. Nava, M. and Dawidoff, R. Created Equal: Why Gay Rights Matter to America. St. Martin's Griffin, 1995. 6. Rayfield, J. New York State Senate Passes Marriage Equality Bill, 24 June, 2011. Web. 16 Dec. 2011. http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/06/new-york-state-senate-passes-marriage-equality-bill.php Read More