Complete 6 pages APA formatted article: Social issue: Marriage equality. This paper will seek to analyze marriage equality, the debate around it and why marriage equality should not be allowed.The Uni

Complete 6 pages APA formatted article: Social issue: Marriage equality. This paper will seek to analyze marriage equality, the debate around it and why marriage equality should not be allowed.

The United States has been continuously consumed by this fundamentally contentious debate over same-sex marriage ever since the early 1990’s when marriage equality advocates were finally able to successfully secure their very first victories in state courts across the country. Ever since then, numerous lesbian and gay advocacy organizations have continued to aggressively push for equal marriage rights through both the legislature and state courts. These groups have however been met by fiery opposition from a number of conservative anti-gay organizations and social conservatives. It is estimated that between the year 1994 and 2009, an estimated over $100 billion was used by the two opposing camps on numerous ballot initiatives that sought to prohibit same-sex marriage (Knauer 88). The importance of this debate is emphasized by a recent news article appearing in the Washington Post, in which the legality of states in the United States banning same-sex marriages within their jurisdiction hangs on the balance pending a supreme court ruling on the overturning of the same-sex marriages ban in Utah by a federal district judge (Barnes 2014).

In arguing their case, supporters of same-sex marriages commonly argue that same-sex couples simply want to marry for the very same reason as their opposite-sex counterparts. These reasons are commonly seen to include having a public celebration of their mutual commitment, to be able to provide a greater degree of legal protection for their children, as well as simply because they actually happen to be in love.

Marriage equality rights advocates argue that same-sex marriage should be legalized so as to provide the couples living together with the legal benefits that come with marriage.