Gay Marriage Should Not Only Be A Civil Right - 1569 Words

America declares itself as the great country of liberty, the great country of opportunities and the great country of equality. As long as an American wants to marry a person of the opposite sex there seems to be no limits to their pursuit of happiness. Even in the progressive, modern year of 2015, the question of whether or not gay couples should be permitted to perform the act of a legal marriage divides the United States of America into two. Although more than half of the states have legalized gay marriage, fourteen states, including Kentucky, reject the idea of homosexual couples as equals to heterosexual couples. The fact is that an exclusion of marriage for gay couples is a limitation of their personal rights and is unequal, unfair,†¦show more content†¦It is discrimination to refuse to give the benefits that are provided to heterosexual married couples to homosexual couples. According to the General Accounting Office of the United States there are 1138 benefits and rig hts for married couples (cbo.gov). These rights include the right to visit a partner in hospital due to an accident or illness. Whether homosexual or heterosexual, partners should have the right to care for their loved ones during illness and misfortune. Another example, actually the worst case scenario is, if one of the persons in the same-sex partnership without being married passes away unexpectedly. If the deceased did not make his or her last wish, the consequence would be that the person left behind has no right to the belongings of the deceased, even though they build up a life together. These two were just a tiny portion of all the rights that married couples enjoy, same-sex couples however, have no access to them without being officially married. To deny these rights to a homosexual is simply discrimination. The concept of marriage has changed over time. According to Rose McDermott, a political scientist at Brown University, the traditional, monogamous concept of marriage between one man and one woman is a modern concept. In fact, two centuries ago polygamy was widespread and monogamy was an exception (McDermott).