Argumentative Essay On Same Sex Marriage

Same-Sex Marriage On 26 June 2015 the United States Supreme Court voted 5-4 to strike down statewide bans on homosexual marriage that existed in 14 of the 50 states. This was the culmination of a decades long controversy for the American public. With gay marriage supporters hailing the decision, and many gay couples promptly flocking to obtain marriage licenses, the reaction was swift. No less on the other end of the political spectrum; the backlash from Christian conservatives was immediate and severe. Current and former Republican governors (Greg Abbott and Mike Huckabee respectively) joined the protest, claiming that the judicial branch had overreached and was treading on constitutional ground specifically reserved to the individual states and their citizens (BBC News, 2015). The Supreme Court’s ruling was the latest development in the evolution of American societal values regarding the subject of homosexual marriage. Beginning with Vermont’s legalization of civil unions (a precursor to the marriage debate) in 2001, followed by Massachusetts’ legalization of same-sex marriage in 2004, and then continuing through January 2012 to …show more content…
To put it crudely: the harshness of colonial life required a large, healthy, (and somewhat expendable) workforce. The institution of marriage, and the emphasis on large families, was the vehicle by which this was achieved. For obvious biological reasons, opposite gender pairings were a necessary component of this way of life. Historic Christianity has also played a significant role in the emphasis of the traditional “one man and one woman” marriage paradigm. Notably, the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches have also stood against two of the more potent forces eroding the sanctity of marriage (i.e. contraception and more lax divorce