I believe gay and lesbian individuals within the United States should be able to marry, and therefore have all the same rights as heterosexual couples, because the 11th amendment to the constitution of the United States forbids the twisting of constitutional rights in order to deny others their right. Also, the fact that federalism is being used as an excuse for the federal government to bow out of making a decision on this topic – marital rights are not delegated to the federal government within the constitution – is deplorable. To be sure this right is protected I will petition gay rights activism groups, and lobby the executive branch to institute a pro-gay marriage act nationwide.

On the surface, the issue of gay marriage is a simple one: should homosexual couples be allowed to marry (and, thus, be extended the same rights) as heterosexual couples? Once you dive deeper, however, it gets more complicated. Not only do you have pro-gay marriage activists versus anti-gay marriage activists, you have the church backing the anti-gay activists. Plus, with the federalist wrench thrown in – should the gay rights issue be delegated to the state governments or to the federal government – gay marriage is an incredibly complicated issue. There is also the argument made that by denying gays and lesbians their right to marriage they are also being denied their constitutional rights to the pursuit of happiness.

As stated, the 11th amendment states that “the enumeration in the constitution, of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people” (United States Constitution.) Given this argument, a state proclaimed gay marriage policy is a construction of federalism to deprive some United States citizens of their rights to the perusal of happiness.

In addition, former Vice President Dick Cheney is pro-gay marriage, saying he thinks “freedom means freedom for everyone” (Smith, Ben) and I agree with his statement insofar that as long as every United States resident has the right to life, liberty (freedom), and the pursuit of happiness within the constitution, these rights need to be extended outside of the constitution as well.

Furthermore, the gay rights battle has been called the civil rights battle of our generation, and, according to Jay Leno ‘there has never been a civil rights movement in [this] country that has failed,’ (Schwzarzenegger…) making the national legalization of gay marriage not only morally and constitutionally correct, but also historically and inevitably so.


The United States federal government needs to legalize gay marriage throughout the United States. While this is a huge step forward for the protection of individual rights, it is less so for the common good. However, a homosexual marriage cannot be detrimental in any way to the common good, making the point mute. The only viable argument against gay marriage is that it is against ones religion. But that is a violation of the 11th amendment, since ‘your’ right to freedom of religion cannot infringe on ‘my’ right to the pursuit of happiness.


The United States Constitution.

Smith, Ben and Martin, Jonathan. Gay Groups Grow Impatient with Barack
Obama. 4-6-09. 4-11-09.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0609/23328_Page2.html


Schwarzenegger vetoes same-sex marriage bill again. 6-11-09.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/10/13/BAT7SPC72.DTL