Why Are Gay-Rights Even Still A Debate?

Why Are Gay-Rights Even Still A Debate?

            I know, I am preaching to the choir. But before we continue to fight for (or in more ignorant cases, against) why is this even still a fight? In case anybody hasn’t looked at the calendar in the last 50 years, the year is 2014, and things have changed. We as a community in most cases have become more accepting and honestly why does anybody care. “If you don’t like gay marriage, don’t get gay married” and it really is as simple as that.

            Slavery existed in North America for 245 years until people finally started pulling their heads out of their asses and realized we shouldn’t be treating people different because of the color of their skin. Times have changed so drastically since then. So, what, by any means, makes anybody think that gay marriage isn’t going to be the same way? Now we look back and think: “I can’t believe that we as a nation got away with having African-American slaves!” because by 2014 standards, it is morally wrong to treat somebody different based on the color of their skin. Doesn’t it make sense that one-day (and soon, seeing is how 33 states have legal same-sex marriage) people in our country are going to look back on time and think: “I can’t believe we as a nation got away with telling people who they could and couldn’t love!” Because, in 20 years, I bet you that it will be morally wrong to treat somebody different based on his or her sexual orientation.

            If you’re against gay marriage, I’m definitely not going to be able to convince you that you are being irrational with this blog, and I know that. But aside from the pure happiness that a happy couple (regardless of their sex) brings to a community, there are benefits involved with gay marriage. In fact, a year after New York passed the Marriage Equality Act, gay marriages generated $259 million in economic impact in New York City alone. And in Maine, a 2009 report on marriage equality found that allowing same-sex couples to marry would increase the state budget by $7.9 million a year. Not to mention the families that are being created by these people. An estimated 65,500 adopted children are living with a lesbian or gay parent. That means, that without the desire to create a family between same-sex couples, roughly 65,500 children in adoption agencies or foster care facilities may still be without loving parents. Is it really worth it to prevent a positive economical impact and homes to tens of thousands of kids, because you don’t want to see two people happy?