Resolved: Gay marriage ought be legalized in the United States.

Before contiuing in this debate, I would like to define the key term in this resoMessengerlution:Ought (v): [a term] used to indicate obligation or duty (The American Heritage Dictionary) With this single definition, the burden of the debate for either side to prove that it is an obligation by the United States to make recognition of same-sex marriage in the society. From there, we can build up my contentions for this debate: Contention 1: Legalization of SSM benefits societyIt is both morally and practically correct to make improvement to society through the utilization of moral methods, and by legalizing same-sex marriage in the United States, we would be doing exactly what the government is required by society and make improvements on it as such. The main improvement to society lies within the betterment of the population with regard to homosexuals and heterosexuals in relation to homosexuals as well as economically. Sub 1a: Acceptance of same-sex marriagereduces negative statistics in the homosexual population, homophobia, and other negative acts as a result of homophobia. The affirmative understands the conditions at which homosexuals are subjected under when it comes to the question of health in the gay community. The rates of HIV and AIDS as well as alcohol and drug abuse in the gay community have been known to have been larger than the amount in the heterosexual counterpart of the society. By reducing these numbers, we would be in a way benefitting the community, and thus showing that the legalization of same-sex marriage would be correct. The following evidence shows that the high statistics in the gay community are strongly connected with homophobia/rejection of homosexuals and that same-sex marriage aids to the improvement of the gay community. . http://userwww.service.emory.edu... . http://www.avert.org...http://shared.web.emory.edu...Sub 1b: Legalization of same-sex marriage is economically beneficialAlongside the betterment of the homosexual counterpart of society is the betterment of the economic status of the society as a whole, meaning that the legalization of same-sex marriage would be beneficial to the community as a whole. . http://services.law.ucla.edu...http://services.law.ucla.edu...http://services.law.ucla.edu...Contention 2: Denial of same-sex marriage does not uphold equality. One of the essential tenets of a legitimate government is to uphold equality in the society, which is not provided by the denial of same-sex marriage in the country as of currently. Because it is not upholding equality by denying same-sex marriage, it ought be legalized as such. Sub 2a: Same-sex marriage denial inherently does not uphold equality. . http://australianmarriageequality.com...http://beingliberal.net...Sub 2b: Civil unions are not a good alternative. Civil unions are not effective at providing parity for homosexuals in the American society because they are designed to be less than traditional marriage and does not provide equal benefit to homosexual patrons as would a normal marriage. At that point, we realize that civil unions are not equal to same-sex marriage. Contention 3: Majority opinion now supports SSM. In addition to the obligation to uphold the country, we must uphold the governmental style of the United States: a democracy dedicated to the people. A democracy must uphold what is both moral/practical and most supported by people in order to be valid to be upheld by the government. The following recent polls show that the new majority of people support SSM. . http://www.gallup.com.........http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com.........http://www.pollingreport.com.........