Gay marriage should be legal

My arguments are all based around the fact that I believe political policies should always be held independent of any religious beliefs. I also base this debate in the USA. To start with I will prove why there is no reason that gay marriage should not be legally recognised by the USA government and then I will prove why it is better for society that gay marriage is approved. Why not? 1. Gay people are still people and they have the right to love whoever they want. Also once they reach 18 they are consenting adults and have the same rights as their heterosexual peers to get married. Heterosexual people have the right to love who they want and once they are consenting adults they can marry who they want. This is no different just because a man loves another man and not a woman and vis versa. 2. This campaign is now one that is supported by many members of religion too. . http://www.youtube.com... This man is just one of the growing support for gay marriage within religious communities. This shows that even if religions were to hold power over the governments decision this would not restrict the passing of this motion for long because people are willing to accept others because most people are generally quite pleasant. Religious marginalization happens all the time and it is overcome because people are more willing to see that you cannot hate someone and restrict them because they have a different belief to you. Benefits for society 1. When many people feel that due to oppressions in society their love is "wrong" or invalid and the best thing they can do is kill themselves, society has a serious problem. The Trevor Project is aimed at helping youths in the LGBT society. Just a few facts from their website highlights the how serious the problem is. "Suicide is the third leading cause of death among 15 to 24-year-olds, accounting for over 12% of deaths in this age group; only accidents and homicide occur more frequently (National Adolescent Health Information 2006). .. For every completed suicide by a young person, it is estimated that 100 to 200 attempts are made (Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey 2003). Lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth are up to four times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers (Massachusetts Youth Risk Survey 2007). More than 1/3 of LGB youth report having made a suicide attempt (D'Augelli AR - Clinical Child Psychiatry and Psychology 2002). " "LGBT students are three times as likely as non-LGBT students to say that they do not feel safe at school (22% vs. 7%) and 90% of LGBT students (vs. 62% of non-LGBT teens) have been harassed or assaulted during the past year. (GLSEN From Teasing to Torment 2006). .. Lesbian, gay, and bisexual adolescents are 190 percent more likely to use drugs and alcohol than are heterosexual teens (Marshal MP, Friedman MS, et al – Addiction 2008). " What we see here is a world of pain because they cannot help who they love and society has branded them as lesser than their heterosexual peers. This is a large number of people in our society that are suffering unnecessarily because they love someone. This has to stop. The way we can go about lessening this this social stigma is by having the government recognise gay marriages so that they are of the same social standing as heterosexual marriages. When the government accepts everyone's right to love as equal there is less of a social barrier. It will not be resolved immediately but then nothing ever is. For the reasons that there is no real reason why the government should not legalise gay marriage and because it benefits society. Vote Pro. . http://www.thetrevorproject.org...