Most people in the United States enjoy many of the same freedoms. These freedoms allow them to do basically whatever they want with their lives as well as giving them the legal recognition and protection of marriage. Over the years our country has experienced several dilemmas dealing with the freedom and recognition of marriage. The majority of humans are attracted to the opposite sex or in other words are heterosexual, but approximately 5% of the United States population is homosexual (Hunt, 2003, p.A19). Some even fall in love and will decide to legalize their love and show to the community their commitment to one another by way of marriage. However, there are also a large number of human beings that are attracted to the same sex, known as homosexuals or gays. They also might eventually feel that they are in love and want to make a permanent commitment as well. Many heterosexual people have a hard time excepting gay people as a couple. When a gay couple also decides that maybe they to would like to show their love and commitment to one another and community members by the way of marriage, many heterosexual couples and individuals object to the recognition of this union. Although many heterosexual people are for equal rights for gays, many are not okay with the legalization of gay marriages in the United States. The argument against gay marriages usually begins with the definition of marriage. In the dictionary marriage is defined as, "the legal union of a man and a woman as husband and wife (Morehead, 1995, p.419)." Nowhere does it say that marriage can also be between two men or two women. Opponents of gay marriage say that if we change the definition and allow two men or two women to marry that it will "only hurt traditional families at a time when marriage is already suffering from divorce and other social trends" (Jost, 2004, p. 1). Some opponents say they have no objection to gay couples enjoying some of the benefits of marriage as long as marriage itself is reserved for heterosexuals.
