Gay Marriage, Essay Example

Gay marriage is one of the most controversial issues of our times. Those in favor of gay marriage tend to quote civil liberties and a general social commitment to lack of discrimination, that is, equality as reasons why gay marriage should be legalized. Those opposed to gay marriage often cite issues of tradition, relying upon, for example, religious arguments that discern the sanctity of marriage in terms of the union of a human being of the male sex and with a human being of the female sex.

However, if we consider the foundation of our society as one governed by notions of equality and individual liberty, the policy to not legalize gay marriage seems to be a violation of these same principles. Namely, our society is not founded on a particular set of religious norms, but rather on social equality. Therefore, there is no argument that opposes gay marriage that cannot be considered discriminatory from this perspective.

In order to develop this thesis, it would therefore have to be shown why our American society is founded on individual liberties. This would also require an account of why religious norms that maintain the male-female sex union of marriage are not valid from a legal perspective. In essence, we have to make an argument as to why the law is the normative framework with which society is governed.

From this plan of action, it thus becomes possible to make a robust defense of gay marriage. A nation founded in the law combined with the explication of this same law makes for an insurmountable argument. In other words, any arguments against gay marriage would be violations of the law that are therefore illegal.

In order to present this case, resources needed are materials related to the laws of the United States that pertain to gay marriage. This would be supplemented by readings from the academic literature about this same law in the context of gay marriage.

From this combination of the structure of the argument, based on the letter of the law, and the notion that the United States is a country that is governed by law, in so far as this law does not preclude gay marriage explicitly, then gay marriage must be legalized. Any argument to the contrary, if this reading holds, would be an anarchy that rejects the legitimacy of the rule of law.