KarMel Scholarship 2004

“A Bill to Legalize the Marriage of Homosexual Couples”

By Allison Coker, FL

Desciption of Submission: “Written as an authorship speech for mock Congress in a Forensics Competition, this piece discusses the necessity for homosexual marriages and why denying them is unjust and "un-American.".” - Allison

“In sickness and in health, ‘till death do us part.” With these words millions of people publicly affirm their private relationships in the institution of marriage. Marriage is, according to the Supreme Court, “one of the basic civil rights of man” and the freedom to marry is “essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness.” Why then, if “all men are created equal,” are some people denied this “basic civil right?” Homosexuality is by no means a sufficient rationality to deny someone his or her right to marry.

Various groups of people are given equal rights and protection under the law because of race, gender, religion, nationality, disability, and language. But many conservative Christians feel that including sexual orientation in these civil rights would deem them “special rights” rather than equal rights. They feel that since the others are based on unchangeable factors such as race, color, nationality, and gender, including sexual orientation would condone homosexual behavior. Meanwhile, their argument doesn’t take into account that religion has always been protected in civil rights laws, and religion is most definitely a choice and a changeable factor in a person’s life.

Contrary to popular belief there is sufficient evidence to prove that homosexuality is not a choice but an inherent trait. The research done by Dean Hammer showed that not only is there a gene for homosexuality that is passed down genetically, but it is located somewhere on the X chromosome. Additionally, research done on separately raised identical twins also showed a strong genetic basis for homosexuality. Moreover, Archbishop Benjamin Tutu wrote, “Someone has said that if this sexual orientation were indeed a matter of personal choice, the homosexual persons must be the craziest coots around to choose a way of life that exposes them to so much hostility, discrimination, loss, and suffering.” With that in mind, if sexual orientation is not chosen, how can it be altered? Susan and Daniel Cohen noted, “Over the years gays have been tortured and imprisoned, been given electroshock treatments, psychoanalysis, and hormone injections, and been prayed for. Nothing worked. They remained gay. You can make someone miserable but you can’t make them straight.” Taking that into consideration, why then should we discriminate against some people and deny them the same rights assured to others based solely on a genetically predetermined trait such as sexual orientation?

Depriving millions of gay Americans of the choice to marry and the rights that come with marriage denies them equal protection under the law. As Senator Ed Fallon said, “By singling out gay and lesbian marriages as a union unacceptable in the eyes of the law, we fuel the fires of ignorance, intolerance, and hatred.” Denying any minority rights granted to the majority tells America that it’s OK to discriminate against people who are different from you. Doing this undermines everything that our country stands for.

It’s astonishing that America has the audacity to call itself the “land of the free and the home of the brave;” where still today we are not free enough to grant equality to every individual or brave enough to cross a barrier of discrimination and injustice that has been plaguing us for so many years.

America is, and always has been, a free country for those that the constitution was written for – white, straight, landowning American males. Over the years, our eyes have been opened, and slowly things have changed. First gender mattered less. Then color mattered less. When, pray tell, will sexual orientation join these other issues in the history books? When will our society really be one of equality, unity, justice, and freedom that it claims to be? When will we live up to these ideals that our country was founded on?

We can’t give in to what we know is wrong. We are all people, one people, and it’s about time that we start to show it. This generation will decide in which direction we will take our society---whether it is closer to equality and unity or to ignorance and hatred. “Because families are defined by love not gender. Because hatred is not a family value. Because equal rights are not special rights.”

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