nt, legal recognition, and monogamy”(1). One could say marriage is a “powerful, legal and social institution that protects and supports family relationships by supplying a choice set of privileges, responsibilities and rights. The decision to marry should belong to the couple in love, not the state” (Bidstrup 1).There are many reasons for the United States to grant marriage between same-sex couples. Same-sex couples “pay taxes, work for a living, care for one another and raise children. They buy homes together and hope to grow old together. These relationships should be treated legally for what they are family” (ACLU 1). Same-sex couples acquire the same responsibilities as heterosexual married couples, “but are denied 1,049 legal rights, protections, and responsibilities that accompany civil marriages” (Graff 1). Granted, some of these rights can be achieved through the court, but the majority is not, even for partners who can manage to pay for a legal representative. Look at the differences between civil unions and civil marriages: For one, in a civil unions partners are classified by the state as distinctly different, yet in a civil marriage they are supported and applauded for committing themselves to their mate. Civil unions are only available in Vermont and are not portable into other states, while civil marriages are available everywhere and are portable due to that fact. When a gay or bisexual couple get married they only receive 300 state rights. When a “strait” couple get married they receive those 300 state rights as well as 1,049 federal rights. Among the federal rights same-sex marriages do not receive are: “joint parenting, adoption, foster care, custody, visitation, insurance, family health care, tax returns, making medical decisions on a partner’s behalf, visiting a deceased partner’s grave, immigration and receiving government profits such as...
