Let's Get With It, America: Same-Sex Marriage

In Argentina, the President and Vice President had to be Roman Catholic until 1994. Argentines are 92.1% Christian and the majority are Roman Catholic. The Roman Catholic Church says in the Catholic Encyclopedia,"Homosexuality: Sexual activity between persons of the same sex. It is not a normal condition, the acts being against nature are objectively wrong."

And yet, as of July 26, 2010, gay marriage is legal in Argentina. The Argentinean Congress adopted reforms to the Civil Code that redefined marriage to include homosexual partners as well as to make both adoption and divorce laws applicable to homosexual couples.

So, this brings me to my main point: what the hell are we doing America? The National Organization for Marriage or NOM says this, "Gay families aren't real families." And their defense for these claims: "Two men might each be a good father, but neither can be a mom. The ideal for children is the love of their own mom and dad. No same-sex couple can provide that.”

Okay, so does that mean a single parent can't provide a loving home for their child? Does that mean that individuals should not be allowed to adopt because they cannot provide a mother and father figure if they are just one person? Obviously not. Also, these claims made by NOM and other anti-gay marriage organizations literally hold no water. According to Ellen Perrin, MD, professor of pediatrics at Tufts-New England Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts, in "an analysis of multiple studies of 500 households shows that rearing children in a same-sex household does not affect the their self-esteem, gender identity, or emotional health." This was a study of about 260 children from ages 3 to 11 years old. The study followed these children after they had grown to adulthood; 11 years later "they still found no difference in adjustment, self-esteem, psychiatric or psychological problems, family relationships, or in identifying sexual orientation."

Same sex marriage is legal in not only Argentina, but also in Belgium, Canada, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain and Sweden. The United States likes to be ahead of the rest of the world in many things such as technological advancement and education. We spend billions of dollars trying to fix problems of other countries and governments to increase the standard of living for that countries people. And yet, the United States has not made enough of an effort to make the standard of living for the LGBT community high.

Gay and lesbian couples should have the same rights as heterosexual couples do. It is an abomination that the LGBT community is treated as secondary citizens with regards to marriage, adoption, and health benefits.

So let's get with it America. It is 2010. Let's take a step in the right direction. Legalize same-sex marriage and really give all United States citizens the same rights.

And that's what Marika Sings.