Works Cited

AASU. “Speak Out Gay  Marriage.” www.youtube.com. 18 May 2012

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpkmQlo4hPk&feature=related

Aguirre, Melissa.  “Same Sex Marriage Survey.” Survey, March 2012.

Alper, Gideon. “GayMarriage Rights.” Thegaylawreport.com 2012. 15 March 2012             <http://www.gaylawreport.com/gay-marriage-rights/>.

 Bye June. “Shades of Purple.” www.youtube.com. 18 May 2012

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehE6wuc9C1s>.

Newman, Dara. “The Baily, Michael. Pillard, Richard. “Are Some People Born Gay.”

<http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs.cmu.edu/user/scotts/bulgarians/nature-nurture/baileypillard.html>.

“Gay Marriage.” www.townipproject.wikispaces.com. 4               May 2008. 18 May 2012

<http://townipproject.wikispaces.com/Gay+Marriage>.

“Gay Marriage.”www.wordpress.com. 6 April 2011. 20 March 2012

<http://supportgayrights.wordpress.com/2011/04/06/hello-world/>.

“Gay Marriage Facts and Statistics.” www.domesticpartnershipflorida.com. 2012. 15 May 2012

<http://www.domesticpartnershipflorida.com/gay-marriage-facts-statistics/>.

Genetics of Homosexuality.” www.serendip.brynmawr.edu. 18 Jan. 2008. 15 May 2012 

<http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/node/1925>.

“Lesbian and Gay Adoption Rights.” www.civilliberty.about.com. 2012. 15 May 2012.

<http://civilliberty.about.com/od/gendersexuality/ig/Lesbian-and-Gay-Rights-101/Gay-Adoption-Rights.htm>.

 Nwazota, Kristina. "The Legal Debate Over Same-Sex Marriage." NewsHour Extra. Aug. 21

2003: n.p. SIRS Discoverer. Web. 22 Mar 2012.

<http://discoverer.prod.sirs.com.wf2dnvr9.webfeat.org/discoweb/disco/do/article?urn=urn%3Asirs%3AUS%3BARTICLE%3BART%3B0000174808>

“Obama Talks Gay Rights: Gay Marriage, DOMA, Don’t Ask Don’t Tell @ 2011 Human Rights Campaign.”

www. Youtube.com. 18 May 2012

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOWGmNfj5ws&feature=related>.

Sherkat, Darren E. de Vries, Kylan MattiasCreek, Stacia. “Race, Religion, and Oppositionn To

Same-Sex Marriage.” Social Science Quarterly (Blackwell Publishing Limited) 91.1 (2010): 80. Advance Placement Source. Web. 11 May 2012 <http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/imageQuickView?sid=d2855b31-a85d-4d9e-81e2-1bcbfa133a04@sessionmgr15&vid=3&ui=12714889&id=47444896&parentui=47444896&tag=AN&db=aqh>.

Sinverguenza, Cunelva. “ Love Is a Human Experience, Not a Political Statement.”  www.blogspot.com .

Feb. 2012. 15. March 2012 <http://cunelvasinverguenza.blogspot.com/2012/02/love-is-human-experience-not-political.html>.

Documentary

Human Rights

            Same-sex marriage is marriage between people of the same-sex. Currently in the U.S, only eight states that allow same-sex marriage. The eight states are New York, California, Massachusetts, Maryland, Iowa, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, Washington, and the District of Columbia. (Gay Marriage Facts and Statistics) I believe that if two people are in love they should be allowed to get married regardless of what their race, gender, or sexuality is. There are many reasons as to why the majority of states should allow Same-Sex marriage like the approval from more than half of the citizens, religion should not be a factor in politics nor should person opinions, and homosexuality being something that comes naturally to them.

            According to an article by Gary Langer, ABC News took a survey on whether people believe same-sex marriage should be legalized or not and more than half of the people who responded believed it should be allowed. Gary said, “From a low of 32 percent in a 2004 survey of registered voters, support for gay marriage has grown to 53 percent today. Forty-four percent are opposed, down 18 points from that 2004 survey.” The survey in 2004 indicates that more than half of the people who actually took the essay believed same-sex married should be legal and have looked beyond the belief that god hates people who like others of the same sex.

Also, in a survey I gave titled Same-Sex Marriage Survey, 76% believed that same-sex marriage should allowed in all 50 states. (Aguirre) We, as Americans, live in a democratic world where we vote for mostly everything; therefore, we as the people should be the ones who decide if same-sex marriage should be legal. If the majority of the state believes that it should be legal, then it should. We are no one to tell people who to love and what they are allowed to do with their life, as long as it is not hurting anyone. 

            According to a graph by Darren E. Sherkat, the two most reasons as to why some people do not agree with same-sex marriage are religion and the fact that they are liberal conservatives. (Sherkat, etal.) Religion is in fact, a major part in people’s life and it affects their choices. It also plays a major role in politics; however, making political decisions based on just what you think and how you were raised is not practical. People think differently and you have to accept that no matter how much you dislike it. Not because you believe being homosexual is not right, should you ever take the right for someone to be happy away.  

            People believe that homosexuality is caused by a genetic problem in the X chromosome. In 1993, Dean Hamer and his co- worker, who were both scientists, did research on homosexuality. According to Dara Newman, “Of the thirty-two pairs, Hamer and his colleagues found that two-thirds of them (twenty-two of the sets of brothers) shared the same type of genetic material.” If so, homosexuality should be looked at the same way race, religion, and gender is. If people are simply born with a sexual preference to people of their same sex without having a choice, then we, as human beings, have no right to discriminate against them for being what they were born to be. Before Dean Hamer researched the possibility of sexuality being a factor to a problem in the X chromosome, liking someone of the same sex was called sexual preference and now it is called “sexual orientation” because of the proven fact that it is not a choice to some people but rather something that comes naturally.  

            People of the same-sex have the opportunity to adopt children in eleven states; however, only eight states allow them to get married. (Lesbian and Gay Adoption Rights) If it is legal for them to adopt children, then it should be acceptable for them to get married. After all, they live exactly like a married couple so we should give them the right to be one.

            People who want to get married to a person of the same-sex are most likely already a couple and live like one. Getting married would only give them a document and make it recognized by the law. The right to get married should be given to anyone regardless of who they want to marry and who they are. Marriage is a human right, not a heterosexual privilege; therefore, marriage should be a right given to every human being.

Cute picture. c:

Annotated Bibliography

Article 1:

Kristina Nwazota argues that the reason gay marriage is not legal is people’s religious beliefs and theory of marriage being between a man and woman. She claims, “To many Americans, marriage represents a cultural and religious institution and not just a legal debate.” Nwazota develops this claim by quoting Bush, former president, and Bill Frist, Senate Majority Leader. Nwazota’s purpose was to explain about the legal debate on gay marriage to show how religion is a huge part in the debate.  

This work is significant because it shows how religion has a huge impact on people’s perspective towards same sex marriage. It has quotes directly from a former president admitting that the reason why he did not agree with it was because he believed marriage was between a male and a female. It also mentions of a case where a lesbian couple, who had been together for 16 years and were raising a daughter, sued the state for refusing them to get married.  

Article 2:

Gary Langer states that over the years gay marriage has gained more support and has reached a milestone. He claims that more than half of the Americans believe gay marriages should be legal according to polls by ABC News and The Washington Post. Langer develops his claim by showing statistics to show that more people support it yet it is only legal in 5 states and the District of Columbia.

This work is significant to my research because it shows that more than half of the American population, 53% to be exact, believes gay marriage should be legalized. So if people believe it should be legalized then why is there only a small amount of states that make it legal for gay people to get legally married.

Article 3:

John Eligon states that Senator Roy J. McDonald, a Republican from Saratoga, stood up for gay marriage and is now a hero in the LGBT community. That caused him to lose support of many people including Elaine Gerber. Mr. McDonald is currently the second of the four republicans supporting gay marriage and loose supporters because of it.

This work is significant because it shows that there are political figures out there that do care about letting gay marriage be legal.  Republicans who do openly support gay marriage suffer consequences for speaking out but they do it anyway.

Work Cited

· Nwazota, Kristina. "The Legal Debate Over Same-Sex Marriage." NewsHour Extra. Aug. 21 2003: n.p. SIRS Discoverer. Web. 22 Mar 2012. <http://discoverer.prod.sirs.com.wf2dnvr9.webfeat.org/discoweb/disco/do/article?urn=urn%3Asirs%3AUS%3BARTICLE%3BART%3B0000174808>
· Langer, Gary. “Support for Gay Marriage Reaches a Milestone.” Abcnews.com March 18 2012 < http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/support-gay-marriage-reaches-milestone-half-americans-support/story?id=13159608>
· Eligon, John. "Republican Who Bluntly Backed Gay Marriage Loses Some Support Back Home." New York Times 1 Mar. 2012: A24(L). Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 29 Mar. 2012 <http://ic.galegroup.com.wf2dnvr15.webfeat.org/ic/ovic/NewsDetailsPage/NewsDetailsWindow?displayGroupName=News&action=e&windowstate=normal&catId=&documentId=GALE%7CA281645443&mode=view>

Graph !(:

Standardized Total, Direct, and Indirect Structural Equation Coefficients on Support for Same Sex Marriage Stacked by White and African American. Social Science Quarterly. EBSCO. Thurs. 29 March 2012.

This image shows that the top two reasons why people are opposed to same sex marriage is because they are liberal-conservatives or because of their religion. This relates to my topic because it answers my essential question, “How much of an impact does religion have on the perspective on people towards gay marriage?” It shows that the major reason why people do not want it to become legal is because they do not want anything to change or that they attend church, which means they have a strong religion whether it be Christianity or something else.

Sherkat, Darren E.de Vries, Kylan MattiasCreek, Stacia. "Race, Religion, And Opposition To Same-Sex Marriage." Social Science Quarterly (Blackwell Publishing Limited) 91.1 (2010): 80. Advanced Placement Source. Web. 11 May 2012.

Music Video !(:

"Today we get to present to you Shades of Purple, a video with a story of having the freedom to love whom ever one chooses despite gender, religion or sexual orientation." - Bye June

Memo #1

A significant amount of people have been with their partner for several years; however, as gaylawreport.com states, same sex marriages are only allowed in 6 states. The six states are Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire, and New York. Therefore, I ask, "Why isn't same sex marriage allowed in all 50 states?" Marriage should consist of love and how much a person cares about the other person; it shouldn’t just consist of the gender of the two people getting married. My hypothesis is that most people will agree with allowing same sex marriage regardless of their sexual preference and those who do not will say that religion is the cause of that.

I conducted my research on everyone that was willing to answer my survey. I chose everyone because same sex marriage laws do not involve just one age, gender, or race group. I think that not having a demographic harmed my data a little because I should’ve used an older audience for the reason that they can vote and decide whether the states should allow same sex marriage or not. Even though I do believe that the majority of people that will say yes, because they are more open minded, are under the age of 18, they cannot vote on controversial topics and future laws. However, they are the next generation and will soon be able to vote on topics like this.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AtzjYMahvyB7dHdMZUp3N3pxZU1Td3ZRaHdYWFl6V0E#gid=0

I found that the majority of people do believe that the states need to allow same sex marriage. I also found that the people who are more open minded with same sex marriage and did not necessarily say "no" or "not sure" had a more in depth definition of what love is. For example, the people who said yes defined marriage as a commitment between two people who love each other more than anything else in the world and want to be together forever regardless of their flaws. However, the people who said “no” or “not sure” defined marriage as a commitment you make when you love someone and want to form a family with them.

I also noticed that the one person who said no was also the only person who said that religion was the reason they had said no.

I was correct with my hypothesis because out of 28 people, 24 said gay marriage should be legalized.  I was in fact surprised with the results because I thought more people would have said no but to my surprise only one person did and the other three put "not sure."  I conclude that if the majority of people responded that gay marriage should be allowed then it definitely should be.

I would like to explore an older audience and ask them what they think of the subject since they can vote and most of the people that answered my survey cannot. The question I would like to research next is how much religion affects people's perspective on gay marriage.

Work Cited

Alper, Gideon. “Gay Marriage Rights.” Thegaylawreport.com. 2012. 15 March 2012 <http://www.gaylawreport.com/gay-marriage-rights/>.

My Survey

Essential Questions.

1.       How does religion influence people’s perspective on gay marriage?

2.       If gay marriage becomes legal, would it help the economy? (More marriages equal more money spent on weddings.)

3.       Is   being homosexual something you are born with or is it a cause of your environment?

4.       How has the view on homosexuality changed over the years?

5.       Why does the government oppose to gay marriage so much?

6.       What if same sex marriage becomes legal?

7.       Which country is more accepting to gay marriage?

8.       Should the government be able to control who we want to  be married to?

9.  If more than hald of the American population support gay marriage. why is it not legal in more states?

Story Behind My Topic

I chose the topic of gay marriage because it's something I am very passionate about despite the fact that I, myself, am straight. I believe that everyone should have the right to marry someone they love even though they're the same sex. It's unbelievable that there's people who have been together for more than 10 years and don't have the right to get married just because their partner is of the same sex. Gay couples are just as important as straight people and they deserve to be treated just like a straight couple because no matter if people agree with it or not it is not their life to live. Love will always be love no matter who it's with.