TAKING A STAND... AND STANDING TALL!

Why in America are citizen not given the right of marriage? Homosexuals all over the world are fighting for equal rights and fighting to get this law abolished. Instead of giving homosexuals the right to get married some states are granting homosexuals civil unions. How could that be acceptable? Civil unions are not even close to marriage. Civil unions and domestic partnerships give some protection under the law to registered couples, but the protection and benefits are often far less than the protection of marriage. With marriage a couple is able to receive a number of legal benefits, over 1,049 federal and state level benefits. Civil union couples only receive over 300 state level benefits and receive no federal protection. Married couples can make emergency medical decisions, whereas civil union partners can only make medical decision in the registered state. Married couples can transfer gifts to each other without tax penalty, whereas civil union partners do not pay state taxes, but are required to report federal taxes. When a couple is married, in the case of the partner's death, the spouse receives any earned Social Security or veteran benefits. Civil union partners do not receive Social Security or other government benefits in case of death. According to a Human Rights Campaign Foundation Report released in January, the loss of Social Security benefits for surviving same-sex partners amount to an average loss of $5,528 per person. In case of divorce, an individual may have a legally-binding financial obligation to spouses and children. In the case of break-up between civil union partners, no such spousal or child benefits are guaranteed or required out of state. A married couple can sponsor their spouses and family members for immigration, civil union couples cannot. As you can see there is a BIG difference between marriage and a civil union. There are so many rights that are associated with marriage, and the law in infringing on these rights of homosexuals because they are not allowing them the opportunity to get married. And to think, America is sometimes referred to as "the land of opportunity"!

Most people refer to committed love, life-long partnership and marriage between a man and a woman, but why is this dream only reserved for heterosexual couples when homosexual men and women also fall in love. These same-sex couples live together and even raise children as happy families, the same as heterosexual couples. In order to have children, homosexual couples often adopt or use other methods of conceptions such as artificial insemination. It is often harder for homosexual couples to adopt children. In some states, there are also laws against gay adoption. Some adoption agencies are more gay-friendly than others. It is estimated that two per thousand same-sex couples in 96 percent of U.S. counties have children. Only seven states and the District of Columbia have laws that support gay adoption. Only 50,000 of the 120,000 children available for adoption in recent years have found homes yet groups against gay adoption seek to reduce the number of available homes based on false perception and unfounded evidence about gay parents. There is no legal reason why gays and lesbians should be denied the right to adopt children. The law only hurts children waiting to be adopted and deprives loving parents who would care for these children. If a couple has a child through artificial insemination, only the birth parent is recognized as the legal guardian. Through second-parent adoption, both parents can obtain legal custody of the child. In the states that do not allow second-parent adoption, if something happens to the custodial parent, the remaining parent, even if they have been raising the child for years, can be seen as a stranger in the eyes of the law. Because of the many laws against gay marriage even if homosexuals were to adopt they would have to face many obstacles, such as: children in gay couple households have no legal status should something happen to the parents, including death or serious illness, neither the parent or child has visitation rights if the parents separate, the child cannot claim inheritances or other household assets in case of death, if one parent dies, the second parent has no legal right to take custody or care for the child, a parent without legal right to a child cannot legally register him/her for school, parents cannot put children on some health insurance plans, parents cannot make medical decisions for the child, the child has no claim to the social security or other insurance benefits of the parent, and gay couple parents without adoption rights do not benefit from the generous tax deductions granted to heterosexual parents. Again, marriage is very important for homosexuals even if they are considering adopting a child!

The fight of equal rights under the law is happening all over the world. Many lawmakers strive to make homosexuals content by granting civil, registered or domestic partnership. But, these partnerships are not granting homosexual couples all of their rights as equal American citizens. Among the many nations of the world Canada, Belgium, the Netherlands, South Africa, and Spain recognizes and allows gay marriage. Out of fifty US states there is only one state that has defined the odds and has made history, Massachusetts. On May 17, 2004, for the first time in the United States, gay and lesbian couples were wed in a state that legally recognizes them. Why is the United States behind? The controversay between heterosexual and homosexual marriage is a never-ending debate. And the rights that are being held from these homosexual citizens are somewhat hopeless.

Many argue, "What's the point of gay marriage?". Marriage is merely more than a document stating that you are commited to a life-long partner to homosexuals, it is their lives. Without a marriage license homosexuals are forced to give up thousands of dollars of benefits each year, their rights to medical decisions of their partner, and even their rights as parents to their adopted children. The government is definitely infringing on many of its American citizens by deining them a right of marriage. I myself am not homosexual but I deeply feel the crying voices of many of homosexuals. When will this dilema end?