One of the most controversial debate topics right now is the legalization of gay marriage. Some people claim that it is against their religion, that marriage between the same gender is unnatural, and that kids need both a mother and a father. But, these reasons also have another side to them. The government is still unsure what they will do about this topic, however, most people have a very strong opinion. After thoroughly looking into this topic, I firmly believe that gay marriage should be legalized because all people are created equal and should have the same rights.

One of the biggest reasons that people are either for or against gay marriage has nothing to do with politics, but religion. The Islamic faith openly rejects gay marriage while Christians believe that God loves everyone and doesn’t care who you love. In The Bible it states, “Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.” Although it also states in The Bible a countless amount of times that God loves and respects everyone and their beliefs. Take under consideration that the bible was written over 30,000 years ago and they thought it was wrong, but so much time has passed since then and we have grown as a country. Another thing is that almost 20% of the world’s population doesn’t believe in any religion. Now, thinking that this is a decision for the government to make, executive branches should not base their decisions on religion because there are so many different religions that you can’t make a law based on one.

A very important part in this topic is children. Kids can grow up better with 2 moms or 2 dads, but there is also research against that. It is true that girls who grow up without a dad are more likely to be involved in sexual activity or teenage pregnancy. However, there are many girls who are growing up without dads that end up having a great future. It also depends on the other parent, and the child’s decisions. An article from debate.org mentions, “Scientific studies have found that children raised by homosexual parents are every bit as capable of proving heterosexual parenting to their own children later in life.” Many people think that the reason for marriage is to reproduce, but that is not necessarily true. The number of couples without children outnumbers the couples with children, proving that having children is not everyone’s top priority. In fact, the Earth is already over populated so it won’t harm us if not everyone has kids. “You see, 6% of women are infertile, meaning that they can’t reproduce, yet the government doesn’t deny them the right of marriage,” says Addison Preston. Right now in America there are over 115,000 kids waiting in an orphanage to be adopted. Gays can help that number decrease.

“It’s immoral and unnatural.” Well, “Throughout our history, we have fought discrimination. We have joined together to recognize equality for racial minorities, women, people with disabilities, immigrants… legalizing gay marriage is the right thing to do and it’s time.” Former Washington governor Christine Gregoire stated in January of 2012. Two very contradictory quotes, one more meaningful than the other. African Americans for example. They used to be slaves, we as a country thought they were worthless, we didn’t give them the same rights as white people. We discriminated them, hated them, and did not respect the fact that they were only human. What about that is different than how we treat gays? We are repeating a very tragic time in history and need to stop. Gays are people too, why shouldn't we give them the right to marry? We are discriminating them because of their sexuality, and that’s all there is to it. Isn’t America about freedom? “I’m not gonna let my sexuality confine or define me. It’s a part of me, not all of me.” -Connor Franta.

When gay marriage is legalized state by state, thousands of people can now officially get married. Some legal benefits of being officially married are rights such as receiving social security, healthcare, hospital visitation rights, and receiving life insurance.  Looking at real statistics, there are studies proving that over 9 million Americans are gay and most of those people are being denied their rights if gay marriage is banned. These people just want to be happy, and start a loving family. What do we have against them? Luckily, according to a May Gallup Poll, “55 percent of Americans favor gay marriage, up from 42 percent 10 years ago, when Massachusetts became the first state to legalize it.” But there are still so many people against that and we need to stand up and support what is right.

Imagine if your relative said they were gay, would you still love them? You should treat everyone the same no matter who they love. People can’t help how they are born. They don’t choose to be gay, they don’t choose to be bullied to the point of suicide. “An overwhelming amount of research has been done showing that homosexuality has a biological causation; not a genetic one, but a biological one.” -balancedpolitics.org. We are all people, we are all equal. Treat everyone the way you want to be treated. We need to open our minds and accept everyone.