Sources II

The first source I found from simply "Googling" was Procon.org. Not only did it help me selcet an appropriate debate, but it really opened my eyes to how large this debate really was. Once I realized there were other things to research, I found The Limits to Union. This book really shows how exhausting this process can be by highlighting all of the legalities and politics of this debate. Finally, I decided I wanted to do research on how children were affected to help my case. I found a publication called "Gay Marriage, Same-Sex Parenting, and America’s Children."

At first, I did not believe that Procon.org could really be an entire source itself. I thought it would be a clumsy attempt on learning up on the debate. After all, it was a simple Google search. The thing that kept me coming back to and eventually pinning this website was the amount of information. There is information about so many ideas from a range of people. They gather debates and decisions in court, they will have graphs and charts available, and the most important part about it, was that it had all of this for both sides of the debate. Not only could I find more ideas to prove my side of the debate, I could see the ideas of the opposition. 

After Googling, I really wanted to find a good book about this debate. I knew it would be close to impossible to find an unbiased work related to both sides. What I did find, was the rather unbiased  work, The Limits to Union. I think one of the main ways this book felt like a good learning experience was the way it educates someone about the entire legal process. This is not done to prove anyone wrong, this shows the reality of the situation that I think everyone should keep in mind. 
Another branch off of Procon.org was a debate I found about children in same sex marriages. I did not exactly find what I was looking for, but in a way, it was almost an even better source. The publication, "Gay Marriage, Same-Sex Parenting, and America’s Children" was written by two openly gay men. When I discovered this, I decided to read this publication against the grain to really try to tell fact from fiction. You would think that these men would have found loads of information about this topic and used it in this publication. They did find examples, but in the end they decide that actual research must be done to determine if children brought up in a same sex marriage are socially different to those in a heterosexual marriage, and what those differences are. I thought it was interesting that they really wanted to wait for a real study to be done instead of finding any and all evidence to prove their side. This publication was also educational to me, and I will also be using quotes from here as from all the rest. 

"Gay Marriage ProCon.org." Gay Marriage ProCon.org. Procon.org, 12 Apr. 2013. Web. 14 Apr. 2013.

Goldberg-Hiller, Jonathan. The Limits to Union: Same-sex Marriage and the Politics of Civil Rights. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, 2002. Print.

Monsivais, Pablo M. Supreme Court Hears Gay Marriage Case Arguments. 2013. Photograph. Http://www.post-gazette.com, n.p.
William Meezan and Jonathan Rauch. "Gay Marriage, Same-Sex Parenting, and America’s Children." Futureofchildren.org. N.p., Sept. 2005. Web. 17 Apr. 2013.

Sources

The two sources I want to utilize to better understand this debate are The limits to Union and Procon.org. The first source I found, Procon.org, was found using a simple Google search to find topics. What I really liked about this site was the complete information from both sides of every debate. When I finally chose this debate to cover, I learned many facts within the first 15 minutes of looking around on the site. The second source I found, The Limits of Union is written by Jonathan Goldberg-Hiller. In his book, Jonathan discusses how much politics are involved with this debate. He is also less biased in this book which made me want to read the book. I really like the expansion of the topic that each source brings. Without Procon.org I would have only guessed what people could dislike about gay marriage. Now, I see the topic in a whole new light. I feel like with the information, I can get an unbiased look at the debate and really decide if there are more pros or cons. I also really like Jonathan's work because it really shows the legality portions of the debate. It helps me understand why something like this is difficult to pass. Again, It gives me more to think about. I think of the pros and cons as a tree. Every time I read another article, each of these tress grow another branch. I may not see it yet, but these trees are completely full of knowledge!

"Gay Marriage ProCon.org." Gay Marriage ProCon.org. Procon.org, 12 Apr. 2013. Web. 14 Apr. 2013.

Goldberg-Hiller, Jonathan. The Limits to Union: Same-sex Marriage and the Politics of Civil Rights. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, 2002. Print.

Monsivais, Pablo M. Supreme Court Hears Gay Marriage Case Arguments. 2013. Photograph. Http://www.post-gazette.com, n.p.

Photo : Monsivais, Pablo M. Supreme Court Hears Gay Marriage Case Arguments. 2013. Photograph. Http://www.post-gazette.com, n.p.

At first I didn't know if I would be able to find a good photograph representing the distances people will go for their beliefs. It turns out, it really wasn't all that difficult. You can see protests all over the internet, YouTube, social media, and even the news. I chose this picture because it represents the opposition of gay marriage rights. I wanted to analyze everything in the photo that would show their beliefs and try to think about the argument in their shoes. The first thing I see is the large poster. It reads "Kids do best with Mom & Dad" SoI looked up different articles and found that " children of lesbian mothers were rated higher than children of heterosexual parents in social and academic competence and had fewer social problems." This was found on procon.org. The writer of this article found the study  in "Pediatrics on June 7, 2010". While also thinking about the children in these relationships, I remember my personal experiences. My Parents divorced when I was 7. Today I am 19 and both of them have been in and out of court every year, spending sizable portions of their income on lawyers. This devastated my childhood. I was the oldest with two younger sisters. Sure, maybe traditionally you'd think that a mother and father would be a dream to have. It certainly wasn't in my case. Because same sex couples cannot reproduce on their own, I believe that a baby is much more planned out. Many heterosexual couples have unplanned pregnancies. There's even a show about teenagers having children at the age of 16 and 17. Same sex couples cannot "accidentally" create life. Not only do they have to plan things out much further ahead, they have to be screened and approved. If that wasn't  enough, same sex couples end up spending a lot more money to have a child. I think with all this planning, same sex couples would be more comfortable in a relationship, and less would end in divorce, creating a safer environment for the child. In my past experiences, I have also met several homosexuals. One friend told me that children of same sex marriages are actually less likely to be homosexual themselves. That may put people in opposition of gay marriage at ease. I think any remark made against gay marriage rights could be explained and proved wrong. There are just so many pros to the argument.

Research Question

What can be gained from legalizing same sex marriage?

Based on my past experience, gay marriage would make a lot of same sex couple much happier for being recognized as the same as regular couples. I also believe that by legalizing marriage, same sex couples will feel less inferior, like the current laws seem to imply. Other then the personal gains of those involved, I wouldn't think that there would be too many gains outside of that. Personally I am not against gay marriage, I would have thought it would have already been legal. It doesn't seem like an abomination or anything that would ruin life for anyone else.

I think that people in opposition to gay marriage may have negative responses to mine. They may say that there are no gains. They would point out that I only see the personal gains, and therefore isn't worth changing a law. Many people believe gay marriage isn't correct or right They may be angry with me for supporting it, but personally, I see no reason to oppose it..

I also want to know more about same sex couple children, divorce rates and economic gains from gay marriage. I believe that by legalizing gay marriage would decrease divorce rates, but I would like to research different statistics about that. I also believe that there are economic gains from gay marriage. There are taxes and fees for being married, that would add income for the government. The extra number of weddings themselves would generate a lot of revenue for businesses in that industry. Another thing I want to research is how children differ. I want to know if there are social impacts from being brought up in a homosexual home opposed to a heterosexual home. Another topic related to that is adoption. I would like to research adoption statistics of heterosexual couples opposed to homosexual couples. There are many other topics that branch off of these, but I think I should start with these larger ones first to support my view of gay marriage. 

Hello everyone,

My name is Brandon Best. I'm 19, I work two part-time jobs, and take classes online. I am studying to become a molecular biologist. I chose this topic to blog about because of how popular it has become. Many states have decided to legalize gay marriage and now the supreme court is ruling over the topic. Supporters from both sides of the topic have very strong opinions.

 A great overview comes from procon.org

"Proponents argue that same-sex couples should have access to the same marriage benefits and public acknowledgment enjoyed by heterosexual couples and that prohibiting gay marriage is unconstitutional discrimination"

Opponents argue that altering the traditional definition of marriage as between a man and a woman will further weaken a threatened institution and that legalizing gay marriage is a slippery slope that may lead to polygamous and interspecies marriages."

Many studies show support for each side, reading up on the topic has really opened my eyes to how many views there really are on gay marriage. I thought you only picked a side and supported it. After doing a little reading, people have brought in different marriage combinations and divorce rate into the discussion. These are some of the things that can really change your view on the topic.