Same-sex marriage should be federally legal in the USA.

***** "legal" definition: of, based on, or concerned with the law ***** I first begin my argument with a religious pretext. The following are citations from the US Constitution. "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." -First Amendment "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." -Tenth Amendment The first quote shows us that government cannot establish laws that respect any religion. The second quote shows us that the powers not specified in the Constitution are given to the states. The first quote already specified, however, that government cannot make a law that respect an establishment of religion. Therefore, states cannot do this. However, states have and continue to behave unconstitutionally by having legislation that bans same-sex marriage. This legislative ban respects an establishment of religion, and therefore is unconstitutional. Thomas Jefferson wrote that the 1st Amendment erected a "wall of separation" between the church and the state, hence the phrase "separation of church and state." Example of violations of the separation of church and state: • "in god we trust" on USA currency • public schools opening events, like graduation, with prayer • judges hanging the Ten Commandments in their court room I recognize that freedom of (and from) religion is guaranteed in the founding documents of the United States of America, and is a notion that has continued to be upheld sine the founding. However, governmental issues must preside with influence from legality, not religion. The United States of America is not a Christian nation. It was not founded as one, and it is not one to this day. There is no official religion of the country. Furthermore, many of the Founding Fathers were Deists. Christian beliefs may have influenced notions in the nation's founding, but this does not lend a hand to proclaim that the United States of America is a Christian nation. Refer to the following quote: "As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquillity, of Mussulmen; and, as the said States never entered into any war, or act of hostility against any Mahometan nation, it is declared by the parties, that no pretext arising from religious opinions, shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries." -U.S. Treaty with Tripoli, 1976, Article 11 If Christianity is allowed to influence politics, then Islamic Sharia law should be able to as well. However, we all know that Sharia law is not allowed to influence politics or law, thus Christianity or any other religion cannot, either. Marriage can be holy to those of religious denominations, but ultimately in the eyes of government marriage is a legal issue. It gives the correspondents over 1,300 legal rights. A priest, pastor, or any other type of religious figure is not required to be legally married. There is no legal argument one can make against same-sex marriage. There are only religious arguments. But, since religion cannot be endorsed by the government, same-sex marriage should be federally legal. • • • • • • • • • • • • The following is my argument with a scientific pretext, specifically against the notion that "homosexuality is unnatural." There are over 450 known species that engage in homosexual behavior, including but not limited to: • African Buffalo • Amazon River Dolphin • American Bison • Adelie Penguin • Gray Squirrel • Red Deer • Black Bear • Grizzly Bear • Gray Whale • House Fly • Red Fox • Reindeer • Gorilla (See "Biological Exuberance: Animal Homosexuality and Natural Diversity," 1999, by Bruce Bagemihl, PhD; or: http://borngay.procon.org...) Homo sapiens sapiens DNA is over 98% identical to gorilla DNA. Note, then, that homosexuality is present in one of our most closely-related relatives. It is relevant to compare homo sapiens sapiens to the rest of the animal kingdom because homo sapiens sapiens is a mammal, thus is part of the animal kingdom. Our DNA is made of the same four nitrogenous bases of every other organism--adenine, thymine, guanine, and cytosine. The same relative percentages also exists in every organism of Earth, regardless of species. Just because homosexuality is not of the general majority status quo, it cannot be deemed "unnatural" biologically. Painting nails, piercing body parts, and cutting/styling hair are all "unnatural" biologically, though they are accepted today because of culture. Some say that homosexuality is unnatural because it goes against survival, since the sex organ of a male and that of a female is required to produce offspring. Note, however, that the majority of homo sapiens sapiens are not homosexual, so survival is inevitable, and that many other species also engage in homosexual behavior. Nonetheless, whether it is "against survival" or not is not pertinent to this debate, because this debate concerns that same-sex marriage should be federally legal. If federal law were based on survival, then many current activities such as mass oil drilling and consumption would not be federally legal because it is an unsustainable practice that ultimately is against survival. Furthermore, if marriage is about reproduction, then infertile couples would not be allowed to marry. Ability or desire to create offspring has never been a qualification for marriage. • • • • • • • • • • • • The following is additional argument without religious or scientific pretext. Marriage in the US is a secular and dynamic institution that has gone under several major transformations. Interracial marriage was illegal in many US states until a 1967 Supreme Court decision. Coverture, where a woman's legal rights and economic identity were subsumed by her husband upon marriage, was commonplace in 19th century America. No-fault divorce has changed the institution of marriage since its introduction in California on Jan. 1, 1970. Gay marriage is protected by the Constitution's commitments to liberty and equality. The US Supreme Court declared in 1974's Cleveland Board of Education v. LaFleur that the "freedom of personal choice in matters of marriage and family life is one of the liberties protected by the Due Process Clause." There are multiple benefits to same-sex marriage. It brings financial gain through things like marriage licenses and higher income taxes. It makes adoption easier and more widespread. Marriage provides both physical and psychological health benefits and recent research suggests that refusing to allow same-sex couples to marry has resulted in harmful psychological effects. The American Psychological Association, American Psychiatric Association, and others wrote in a Sep. 2007 amicus brief, "allowing same-sex couples to marry would give them access to the social support that already facilitates and strengthens heterosexual marriages, with all of the psychological and physical health benefits associated with that support." Legalizing same-sex marriage does not harm "family values." In fact, Massachusetts, which became the first state to legalize gay marriage in 2004, had the lowest divorce rate in the country in 2008. Its divorce rate declined 21% between 2003 and 2008. Alaska, the first state to alter its constitution to prohibit gay marriage in 1998, saw a 17.2% increase in its divorce rate. The seven states with the highest divorce rates between 2003 and 2008 all had constitutional prohibitions to gay marriage. Lastly, homosexuals are not sub-humans. To be qualified as a homo sapien sapien, you must been certain biological standards. Homosexuals are able to reproduce, and they share every single other biological requirement heterosexuals do.