Wing-San Truong

Professor Novakovich
English 213
October 16, 2010

A debate on gay marriage

“Marriage is not simply a private contract; it is a social and public recognition of a

private commitment” (Sullivan 162), a common belief which captures both and cause and

consequence of the actual debate on gay marriage. The fact that the law recognizes

legally the union of gay and lesbian couples will represent a profound transformation in

the meaning and definition of marriage. According to Andrew Sullivan, in the essay

called A debate on gay marriage, as long as two people share emotional, financial and

psychological bond, heterosexuals and homosexuals are identical. Nowadays, same-sex

marriage has taken an important place in the society. Even if in 2006, court has ruled a

limited marriage to unions between men and women, it is possible for same-sex couples

to get married. In the essay, I will discuss the various form of social influence in

homosexual marriage.

The idea of marrying someone is to build a family in order to give birth to

children and to raise them together. That is why; it is hard for heterosexuals to accept the

legalization of gay marriage. Other than the religious aspect which can influence people’s

decision about the subject, a lot of social problems when same-sex couples are legally

married in the aftermath of these rulings. Claiming that homosexual’s marriage is

equivalent to heterosexual’s marriage, the author fights to convince his reader to accept

the fact that gay marriage is possible and people should not feel shameful about their own

identity.
 According to Statistics Canada, 3,5% of the 21,981 marriages are between same-

sex couples and only 4,8% are between opposite sex. Since 2003, the rate of homosexual

marriages increases year after year. Indeed, marrying between the same-sex couples

becomes a personal choice, but it presents enormous repercussions in society. In his

article, Andrew Sullivan first defines the word “marriage”, and then he argues that we

can’t debate with definitions created by humans. People should base on their own

thoughts when it comes to analyze a situation like same-sex couples marriage:” Some

might argue that marriage is by definition between a man and a woman; and it is difficult

to argue with a definition” (Sullivan163). It is not fair, according to him that people judge

lesbians and gay relationship as “sickness and in health” (Sullivan 163). If homosexuals

can be recognizing by the law, they can accept their identity without feeling shameful

but, this fact can also influence negatively among children.

Logically, the purpose of marriage is to build families, but same-sex couples can’t

raise children in a proper way. Imagine life without heterosexuals; imagine loving

someone without even the possibility to have children who come from them. Every

person will one day want to have a family and children. How can they do that if they’re

attracted to the same sex ? Moreover, what the author forgets to mention is that if people

start to become homosexuals, the birth rate will decrease and it can cause a serious social

problem. Couples desperate to have children will turn to websites to find sperm donors

and to find someone who can be pregnant for them.

 Thus, the legalization of same-sex marriage can influence today’s teenagers.

“What are we going to do with all these kids proclaiming they are bisexual or

homosexual when we know they are not?”( Bennets 169) Since being homosexual or

bisexual is considered as “hot” for a lot of teenagers, they can easily be accepted by other

students. Teenagers are forming social groups among themselves. Teachers have to show

to students that heterosexual and homosexual marriages are equivalent when it is not.

Even though, teenagers are not attracted by people of the same sex, they will eventually

become in order to be “cool”. We are now observing a radical transformation in sexual

identity crisis.

However, the impact of gay marriage would cause a lot of confusion among

young people. Andrew Sullivan brings great arguments to accept homosexual’s marriage

in which he supported it so well, radical changers in terms of marriage cause a social

problem for other generation. If gay marriage seems to be unreachable and

misunderstood by others, its influence in the society proves that maybe we do not need to

judge people’s identity, but we certainly have to make the distinction between

heterosexual and homosexual marriage. Therefore, I do not know if it is unfair to same-

sex couples, but I do know that we should encourage heterosexual marriages in order to

assure the continuity of birth rates. I feel there is no doubt that gay marriages are the main

factor for why people feel the confusion of self identity. However, being bisexual or

homosexual is becoming a trend in our society that we should not be facing of we don’t

legalize same-sex marriage.

Work cited :

LAURENS BEHRENS-LEONARD J.ROSEN. Writing and reading

across the curriculum, Brief edition, Pearson Longman, Third edition, 2009.

http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/070117/dq070117a-eng.htm

http://www.montrealgazette.com/health/sexual-

health/Women+desperate+have+children+turning+unregulated+websites+find+sperm/35

85180/story.html