What does marriage mean?

If you are to ask someone why they want to get married it is because they want to spend the rest of their lives with someone in the hopes of being happier than if they spent the rest of their life alone.  When you ask someone why they are gay, they may not be able to answer that question with such ease.  You could also make the argument that asking that question is like asking a straight person why they are straight.  A similar answer, if there is one, could be used for both questions.  Now the one question that remains is why are homosexuals unable to get married under some sort of federal law?

Most people who are against gay marriage will say they arrived at that conclusion because they believe marriage is something between a man and a woman.  Some of those same people will also say that they have nothing against homosexuals but they should not be able to get married because it diminishes the sanctity of marriage.  Instead they often say that homosexuals should instead have the right to civil unions.  Hopefully all of these people also believe that in terms of marriage benefits, both shall remain equal between marriage and civil unions.  What I mean by this is that people who participate in a civil union should also have all the same tax benefits, medical benefits, and any other sort of legal benefits that are associated with marriage.  The question I propose is that if marriage is so sacred, how come we allow so many straight people to get married on a whim in places like Las Vegas?  How can marriage be so sacred if we allow ourselves to get divorced and then remarried to someone else only to get divorced again?

While many people who are against gay marriage will disagree with me, I think the real reason that so many people who are against gay marriage have that belief is because they are against homosexuality.  They believe that it is unnatural.  I cannot make a cogent argument against the belief that homosexuality is unnatural.  What I can say is that if you believe this then you probably believe that it is a choice.  However this choice makes those who participate in it very happy and marriage would make them even happier.

If gay marriage is to devalue the sanctity of marriage, then marriage must have some sort of value attached to it.  These values are things that I have already named such as tax and medical benefits.  If we are to add the happiness benefit then perhaps it is priceless.  Under the United States constitution we are all allowed to strive for happiness.  Homosexuals would only enhance the value of marriage because they are striving for happiness.  In fact with us not including homosexuals in marriage, we have devalued marriage because we are not including a gay couple’s happiness as a part of marriage.  The fears that so many people have who are against homosexuality is that it will spread to their children.  Then I propose the biggest defense against homosexuality: have a relationship with your child.  Do not allow others to raise your children.  If you are scared that with gay marriage that more homosexuals will adopt children or use a sperm/egg donor to conceive then I one final remark for this.  We as a society should be trying to spread happiness and raise our children to be upstanding citizens.  If someone feels that being homosexual will make them happy, no matter what type of parents they have, they will always try to be gay.