The issue of the rights of gays to marry is a controversial one, but one which is not going to go away. Gays are entitled to the same rights and protections under the Constitution of the United States as anyone else. The fact that they are born with a different sexual persuasion should not exclude them from these rights and protections. Those who oppose gay marriage say that allowing gays to marry would undermine the institution of marriage as we know it, yet they never explain why or how it would do this. Allowing gays to marry should have no impact on those who wish to take part in a heterosexual marriage. It does not interfere with their marriage or their lifestyle. Gays do no impose their lifestyle on heterosexuals so why should heterosexuals always want to impose their lifestyle on gays? The two can, and always have functioned independently alongside each other. Why should the fact that two gay people are married rather than just living together have any effect on heterosexual marriage? Are those in heterosexual marriages so insecure that they do not feel comfortable in the lifestyle they have chosen? This is only a moral issue for those who wish to make it one; personally, I think it is immoral to deny gays the same rights as heterosexuals. Gay marriage has no impact on my life, and should have none on the lives of anyone but gays, on which the impact is positive.
Dr. Paul Cameron of the Family Research Council of Colorado Springs, Colorado, has come up with a list of reasons why he believes homosexuals should not be allowed to marry (Cameron, 1999). He begins by saying society has a vested interest in prohibiting behavior that endangers the health or safety of the community, and says this is why homosexual liaisons have historically been forbidden by law, yet homosexual relations are not against the law. He does not explain how he thinks homosexuality endangers the health or safety of the community. He also s...