Gay Mirriage

To clarify, this will not be a debate about whether or not gay couples should be given the same benefits as same-sex couples, or whether same-sex marriage should be ‘recognized’ by the government, we are arguing whether it should be made ‘legal’. C1) Increase Amount of Children AdoptedLegalizing gay marriage would significantly increase the amount of children that are adopted from foster care.In the U.S. 397,122 children are living without permanent families in the foster care system. 101,666 of these children are eligible for adoption, but nearly 32% of these children will wait over three years in foster care before being adopted. [1]Since gay couples cannot have children together, they are extremely likely to adopt a child instead. Many states and adoption agencies make it extremely hard to impossible for an unmarried gay couple to adopt a child [2], legalizing gay marriage would make it impossible for these states and adoption agencies to deny a now married couple access to adoption options. Now that thousands of married couples are ready and able to become loving parents, thousands of orphaned children can have loving parents.C2) Fosters AcceptanceNow that gay couples are able to do what members of the heterosexual community are able to do, this makes the community more likely to accept the gay couple. The more barriers that separate gays from heterosexuals, the more heterosexuals are inclined to reject gays from their communities. But when gays are able to have access to the same things that heterosexuals have, they are seen less as an ‘outsider’.C3) Reduces SuicidesLegalizing gay marriages would reduce the amount of people that commit suicide.Gays have a higher risk of committing suicide. MIND interviewed 3,000 gay men and found that 21% had made plans to kill themselves, and 12% had attempted suicide. [3] By legalizing gay marriage, gay people feel less 'different' than other people, and thus are less likely to become deppressed. Legalizing gay marriage will help ease the stress that comes from homosexuality and hopefully stem the flow of suicides that come as a result of it.C4) EqualityDenying marriage to two individuals that love each other just as much as any other couple based on their gender is denying them a fundamental freedom; to marry the one you love. In the words of Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge Sarah Zabel, “[the ban] serves only to hurt, to discriminate, to deprive same-sex couples and their families of equal dignity, to label and treat them as second-class citizens, and to deem them unworthy of participation in one of the fundamental institutions of our society." [4]C5) Marriage BenefitsMarried couples enjoy 1,138 rights, benefits, and protections [5], such as health insurance benefits, medical rights, tax returns, inheritance, etc. Denying some Americans these rights yet granting them to others based on their sexual orientation is discrimination. Same-sex couples sadly do not get to enjoy these benefits, even though they are a loving couple the same as everyone else. [1] http://ccainstitute.org...[2] http://family.findlaw.com...[3] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov...[4] http://www.msnbc.com...[5] https://www.cbo.gov...