Gay Marriage

1 Matthew Durden Atreyee Gohain ENC 1143/82505 November 14, 2013 The subject of my research paper is gay marriage. As a young adult living in America today, I have witnessed many young homosexuals become the subject of rude jokes and bullying. As a matter of fact, in our society, the terms “gay” and “homosexual” have become nearly synonymous with “bad.” Now today, more then ever, the subject of gay marriage is a heated one to say the least. A countless amount of angry Americans are against same sex marriage. They claim that if gay people are granted the legal authority to get married, it will destroy the sanctity of marriage, a bond between a man and a woman. A large majority of these people will quote the Bible, saying that gay marriage goes against Christianity. On the other hand, however, we have (or are supposed to have) a complete separation of church and state in America. On the other side of the argument, gay marriage supporters claim that if gay people get married, simply put, nothing will happen. They claim that the sanctity of marriage will remain intact and life will go on as if nothing has happened. These two sides have been battling for years now, and it seems that we may be getting closer to a final conclusion. In my first source, the article, “The Defense of Marriage Act and American Exceptionalism: The ‘Gay Marriage’ Panic in the United States” from the University of Texas’ Journal of the History of Sexuality (2003), Barry Adam, professor at the University of Windsor, takes a look at the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), why it came about, and how other countries are handling gay marriage differently. In the article, Adam explains that DOMA came about as sort of a “moral panic” in America,

2 as gay marriage has recently become more and more relevant. He also explains the laws pertaining gay marriage as they are in various other large industrial counties, such as Scandinavia, the Netherlands, France, Canada, Germany, and Australia, as well as several others. Adam’s article has a plethora of information on DOMA that I will be able to use in my paper, as well as information on a global scale. It lacks, however, any statistics to help make his case. My second source, the chapter “The Benefits of Same-Sex Marriage: Lessons from Scandinavia” from William Eskridge, Jr. and Darren Spedale’s book Gay Marriage: For Better or for Worse? (2006) provides insight into the outcomes of gay marriages that have taken place in Scandinavia. This chapter will help me to write my paper because it provides several examples of positive results of gay marriage. For example, it looks into the legal benefits of marriage, such as citizenship, tax benefits, and health and employee benefits. This chapter will help me write my paper because it provides a lot of pros for gay marriage, and it also features a few studies with statistics and evidence. The only downfall is the fact that all of the information comes from Scandinavia. Although the benefits are the in both countries, Scandinavia and America, Americans would probably react differently to legal gay marriage. In my third source, the chapter “How Straights Will Benefit” from Jonathan Rauch’s book Gay Marriage: Why it is Good for Gays, Good for Straights, and Good for America, Rauch lays out the benefits of gay marriage on society as a whole, not just as gay rights or equality. He talks about how society views marriage as whole. We like marriage because marriage means stability, and the children of married couples

3 will develop better in a stable household. Also, people look at weddings as joyous occasions, and when two gay people who are in love get married, it is just as joyous as when two straight people who are in love get married. I will be able to use this chapter for my paper because it forces people to look at marriage as a whole before just looking at it as “gay marriage” or “traditional marriage.” Also, it features studies and statistics that will help me to prove certain points. My research has shown me that there are many more pros to gay marriage than cons. The legalization of gay marriage would bring benefits to gays, straights, and marriage itself. Also, the children of gay couples would develop better in more stable households. At the same time, however, I have seen that there is still a lot of opposition to gay marriage in America, despite the benefits. My research has shown me to think of the concept of marriage as a whole before dividing it into “traditional” and “gay” marriage. Through doing this, I can much more clearly see the benefits that both straight couples and gay couples would receive from marriage.

4 Works Cited Adam, Barry. “The Defense of Marriage Act and American Exceptionalism: The "Gay Marriage" Panic in the United States.” The Journal of the History of Sexuality. 2003. Web. Eskridge, William and Darren Spedale. Gay Marriage: For Better or for Worse? Oxford University Press, 2006. Print. Rauch, Jonathan. Gay Marriage: Why it is Good for Gays, Good for Straights, and Good for America. Henry Holt, 2004. Print.