Recent bans on gay marriage across the country have revitalized the fight over this moral dilemma. While this is an issue based on personal beliefs, The Kirkwood Call voted 30-4 in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage, asking for the option to be available for couples who wish to marry.

In 1620, the Mayflower arrived on Plymouth Rock, bearing passengers who sought to create a new life free from religious persecution. In 1776, Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence, proclaiming “all men are created equal” and are born with “certain unalienable rights,” sparking the American Revolution. In 1865, after the Union won the Civil War, three amendments to the Constitution were made granting legal rights to African Americans. In 1920, the 19th Amendment ensured the right to vote could not be denied based on gender.
Now, in 2008, the United States federal government does not recognize same-sex marriage.
For a country founded on tolerance and equal rights, we still have a long way to go. Excluding gays and lesbians from marriage is discrimination, and it is inexcusable. Currently, 30 states have constitutional bans on homosexual marriage, including Missouri. In this past election, California passed a ballot measure that outlawed previously legal same-sex marriages. As many as 18,000 California marriages now may be unfairly challenged in court.
The argument against same-sex marriage has far too many holes to be considered valid.
Many opponents of homosexual marriage cite the long-standing definition of marriage as being between a man and a woman, preserving laws for the sake of tradition. If the United States refused to ever change traditional laws, our country would still be stuck in the dark ages of legal slavery, religious prejudice and gender discrimination.
America gains nothing by denying homosexual couples the rights that marriage guarantees. Although an increase in the availability of civil unions is a great step forward in the fight, a civil union allows far too many injustices that actual marriage protects against. According to the federal government’s General Accounting Office, marriage grants over 1,100 rights which include Social Security benefits, veterans’ benefits, health insurance, pensions, Medicaid, retirement savings, family leave and hospital visitation. Civil unions provide none of these benefits.
Another interesting argument is that same-sex couples are not the best couples to raise children. This seems strange in a society in which murderers, convicted felons and even known child molesters are allowed to marry and procreate. If children are the priority in this argument, some questions are raised about why these things are allowed.
Most objections to same-sex marriage, however, are based in a religious belief that gay relationships are immoral. Faith-based contempt is not a rational defense when many religious denominations, including Buddhism and Unitarian Universalism, actually do support homosexuals. Additionally, religion should have no standing or influence in American law, as the First Amendment explicitly states.
Our founding fathers built America on the concepts of life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness and the guarantee that no one should have these inalienable rights denied based on discrimination. The United States has already managed to overcome prejudices of religion, race and gender. There is no reason sexual orientation should be any different.