Do gay people have equal rights? You can ask as many people as you want. The majority will say yes. However, as soon as you ask, “Do gay people have the right to get married?” the answers of many people change to no. Why is that? Why is it fair that straight people can get married but gays cannot? Why do gay people have fewer rights as everyone else in America? People all over America are controversial on the subject, but the hostility is not necessary; gays are just like everyone else. Teens need to have the right information and a fair opinion on gay people’s marriage rights. Homosexuals’ ability to marry should be legalized in all of America because it is their natural right, gay families’ children are not different than other families’, and they should be able to marry despite what the Bible says.

It is the natural right for homosexuals to get married, and taking that privilege away from them is arbitrary. To the U.S., gay people seem to be portrayed as the black sheep of the population. Homosexuals are not aliens! By having restrictions on gay marriage, it is like saying that gays are different from everyone else. The only way they are different from others is their sexual preference. If two men or two women love each other, it is their right to be bound in marriage and spend their life together in happiness. A census in 2000 states that there are over 600,000 committed gay couples in America. They want their love to be official and get married just like all of the straight couples! Another study shows that nearly 60% of all heterosexual marriages end in divorce; less than 10% of gay couples separate when married. This indicates that since homosexuals have to fight so much to get legally married, they form a strong commitment to each other. Their commitment considerably proves that gay people desperately want to be married and it should be their right to. States where gay marriage is legal often give lack of privileges including the right to inherit property, have medical benefits, and other rights that heterosexual couples earn from marriage. (Macmillan Reference USA) Having bans on gay marriage is similar to when there were bans on interracial marriage. Just because it is different from the traditional way of marriage does not mean it is wrong. It took nearly 200 years to understand that blacks and whites deserve to get married. When will we realize that everyone has equal rights to marry as we did in the 20th century when we raised interracial marriage bans, even if it is same-sex?

No matter what people say, gay couple’s raising of children is not a negative thing. What makes gay families so much different from straight families? Just because a homosexual couple has a different sexual preference does not make them any less qualified to be married or to have a family together. If all homosexual couples had the ability to raise families, the children they raised probably would be the same as all of the other children in the U.S.; they would have equal potential to grow up and lead a successful life. However, ignorant and skeptical people refuse to believe this and think that gay families will corrupt their children because of the lack of the second gender in the parent. This statement is unjust because if there are two supportive parents raising a child, the child will be the same as any other boy or girl. If gay couples had the right to marry and raise children, the outcome would be unnoticeable by comparison to the rest of the children in America.

Despite what the Bible says about gay’s inability to “inherit the kingdom of God,” That passage in the Bible is untrue; if God put somebody on the Earth as a gay man or woman, he will accept him or her into heaven as the same way. God would not throw all homosexuals into the fiery pits of hell. It seems invalid that governments and people base their opinions on what the Bible says because not everyone in America is Christian and it seems very “un-religiously tolerant.” Christianity is about being tolerant to all sects of religion and accepting all people into heaven if they choose to follow God. Gay Christians follow God, yet they receive persecution in the Bible and in America. The Bible should not be a contributing factor in taking away homosexuals right to be married.

Gay people should be able to live their life like everyone else and be able to get married. Marriage is homosexuals’ natural right, just as it is for heterosexuals. Gays should be able to have families and raise children, and despite what the Bible says, be together forever. Although teens cannot do much to put a stop to gay marriage, they can stand up for what they believe in and try to influence others. Gay people persecution and prejudice is greatly unjust. They are just like the rest of us! So next time you are thinking about setting gay people to a lower standard, ask yourself this: am I being fair?