Gay Marriage Argumentative Essay

Two different arguments have been provided in this article. The first argument is against same-sex marriage as highlighted by Tim Drooling. Together with the organization that he leads, Canadians against same Sex Marriage, they claim that legalizing same-sex marriage will lead to worse situations such as incest, bestiality, and polygamy. The second premise supports legalizing same-sex marriage as a matter of equality and not polygamy. The author concludes that despite the negativities of polygamy, it has been legalized and this should be the same case for gay marriage.

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In my opinion, the author has presented a congruent argument in support of legalizing gay marriage. One of the premises in this article is that gay marriage would lead to polygamy and as such, should not be legalized. From the analysis of this premise, it is clear that Tim Drooling and his team use polygamy to explain why traditional or cultural marriages would collapse in the society. However, what these individuals fail to understand is that polygamy has existed for many years. It existed during biblical times, and it also existed during historical times after the Bible era. During this time, polygamy was regarded as a form of marriage. Over the years, arguments against polygamy increased, and it was changed to monogamy. For example, one man was allowed to marry many women. Today, in most societies, one man marries one woman and it is considered to be normal. As a result, it cannot be argued that same-sex marriage will ruin the concept of marriage. It had already been ruined even before the legalization of same-sex marriage.

The second argument against gay marriage in this article regards the effects of same-sex marriage on the bearing and upbringing of children. One of the goals of traditional marriages is to have children. If the arguments related to polygamy and monogamy are considered, it would mean that same-sex marriage should be legalized even if they encourage polygamy. As a matter of fact, individuals in a polygamous relationship are more likely to fulfill the goal of bearing children as opposed to those in a monogamous marriage. This is the same case for individuals in a heterosexual relationship. Advances in technology have allowed individuals of the same sex to have children and even raise them. Therefore, the claim of the author that children can thrive in a gay home is right. Allowing polygamy in same-sex marriages would give children a more positive experience as compared to monogamy or heterosexual marriages. Polygamy can thus not be used as a reason to oppose same-sex marriage.

Another premise in the article is that one of the effects of legalizing same-sex marriage is incest. Just like incest is an unnatural activity in the society, homosexuality has been considered in the same way. The society opposed polygamy as it was also considered to be unnatural for one man to marry many women. It is what led to the wide spread of monogamy. Today, there have been claims that it is unnatural for one man to marry one woman. This has raised different debates regarding the eligibility of monogamy and polygamy. For example, individuals have referred to biblical times in arguing for polygamy instead of monogamy. The same arguments that are raised in support of polygamy can also apply in arguing against same-sex marriage. Therefore, it is difficult for one to support polygamy and fail to support the legalization of same-sex marriage.

Society members have disregarded polygamy due to claims that it has serious negative effects on individuals. For example, it can lead to sexual subjugation. When compared to same-sex marriage, there has been no evidence to show that it is harmful to people or to the society. Apart from the example given above, there are many negative impacts of polygamy that have been proven. It can lead to conflicts, misunderstandings, and divided attention or love. Related to this is the issue of power imbalance. In polygamous marriages, there is a major power imbalance. For example, the first wife considers herself to be more powerful than the other wives. On the other hand, the man considers himself to be in charge of all the women. Even in monogamy, there are power imbalances in heterosexual marriages. The man is considered to be the head of the house since he is physically stronger than the woman. Power imbalance is not a major issue in same-sex marriages. This is because individuals consider themselves to be equal. They call each other by the same title such as husband or wife. The fact that this issue is less in same-sex marriages means that it should be legalized as it is comparable to heterosexual marriages.

Other than the serious negative effects, the principle of equality requires that the same treatment that society accords to gay people, it should extend it to polygamy too which is not always the case. Several arguments for gay marriage revolve around the core notions of equality and dignity. Drooling argues that there should be no measures for equality as it sets the ground for ‘second class’ rights. Specifically, the fact that marriage is defined by love, companionship, and commitment invalidates the lack of recognition for polygamous marriages on grounds on procreation. Just as children thrive well in gay marriages, so can they do so in polygamous marriages. Equality is about recognizing the differences between people and providing an environment that does not discriminate against them because they are not the ‘norm.’

Additionally, using the common argument of procreation as the decicive criteria for rejecting gay marriages sidelines the inadequacies and prividledges of religious freedom in polygamous marriages. That is, the more religion embraces polygamy as a way of upholding the principle of procreation, the more it violates gay people’s rights. It would not make sense to jusfify procreation on grounds of the ability to physically reproduce rather than nurture a responsible adult. Being able to physically reproduce does not necessarily imply that one will be a responsible parent. Equality is about recognizing all the possibilities that will promote positive co-existance in society rather than using a standardized approach as the exclusion criteria for the minority. Such a principle does not uphold equality as shows that religious freedom only works for those who fit the accepted criteria of social inclusion. Therefore, polygamy should be acceptable because it upholds the application of religious freedom and social inclusion consistently.

A comparison of incest and same-sex marriages can also give more insights into the claims made by the authors. Incest is harmful to the society based on facts that have already been proven. The fact that children cannot consent to marriage means that it might affect them psychologically or physically. If the same law applies in same-sex marriages, there will be no cases of incest as claimed by the proponents against it. Children that are raised by these parents will also be safe as no evidence has proven otherwise.