Gay marriage should be legalized in the United States.

Marriage, for purpose of this debate, is a relationship which the state recognizes as a marriage, and upon whose members it confers all the legal rights, privileges and benefits thereof. As of this writing, the federal government and 42 state governments do not recognize marriages between two persons of the same sex. Here are just a few reasons why this should not be the case.1) Not legalizing gay marriage creates second-class citizensTechnically, gay relationships were not even legal in the United States until 2003,[1] yet that stopped no one who wanted to have one, nor does it still stop anyone in states where laws against sodomy are still on the books. There are a great many gay couples who are in long term relationships, and who have gotten married in a non-state-recognized manner and/or who would get married if the option were available to them. This is not going to change. Short of instituting an oppressive and near-omnipotent theocracy, there will always be close, loving and committed gay relationships.The state's refusal to recognize these relationships as marriages (if the parties so wish), while it does recognize their heterosexual counterparts, creates a category of second-class citizens. This is prima facie antithetical to basic American principles.2) Legalizing gay marriage benefits children of gay couples.96% of all counties in the United States, no matter how conservative, have at least one gay couple raising a child.[2] Regardless of how one feels about this, and regardless of how these children came to exist, the fact remains.These children's' mental health will benefit from having a clearly defined legal status with respect to both of their parents, which is especially important during times of crisis such as school and medical emergencies. In addition, inasmuch as a child's parents' relationship is more stable and secure when legally recognized through marriage, this child's well-being is correspondingly better.[3]3) Not legalizing gay marriage denies equal rights to gay citizens.Two GAO reports, from 1997[4] and 2004,[5] identify a (non-overlapping) total of 1,138 federal laws that grant benefits, rights and privileges to married couples. Such laws include laws pertaining to joint parenting, joint adoption, joint insurance policies, immigration for partners from other countries, certain Social Security and Medicare benefits, property tax exemptions, inheritance in the absence of a will, bereavement leave, the Fifth Amendment right to refuse to testify against one's spouse, etc. This does not include state laws, or private companies' policies.Gay couples cannot enjoy the benefits, rights and privileges conferred by these laws. This is unjust on its face. As a matter of justice, which the state is obligated to uphold, gay marriage must be legalized.4) Legalization of gay marriage benefits our legacy.As recently as 1967, when the Supreme Court put a stop to it,[6] there were states that banned black people from marrying white people. Prior to the end of the Civil War, there were states that banned black people from marrying, period. Times change.In the last several decades there has been a steady movement toward the acceptance of the idea of gay marriage, and this movement is only moving faster. A 2011 Gallup poll showed, for the first time in the history of their polling on the subject, that a majority of Americans favor legalizing gay marriage -- 53%, up from 27% in 1996.[7]The gay marriage movement is a movement for equal rights, and no major equal rights movement in American history has ever failed in the end. Legalizing gay marriage will benefit our legacy because our descendants, for whom gay marriage will almost certainly be a fact of life, will speak about our generation with pride rather than with an embarrassed cough.Finally:5) The Golden RuleThis simple principle exists, in some form, in virtually every religion and secular ethical system. Would a heterosexual person want a legislature or referendum of mostly gay people to make it illegal to marry the person he loved?For the above reasons, I submit that gay marriage should be legalized in the U.S.[1] Lawrence v. Texas, 2003.[2] US Census, 2000[3] http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov... pp. 26-27.[4] General Accounting Office, OCG-97-16 Defense of Marriage Act[5] General Accounting Office, GAO-04-353R Defense of Marriage Act: Update to Prior Report[6] Loving v. Virginia, 1967[7] http://www.gallup.com...