11/8/06
Argument Essay

Same-Sex Marriage: Not a Match for Society Marriage, as defined by Merriam-Webster, is “the legal relationship into which a man and a woman enter with purpose of making a home and raising a family” (358).Although most people in the United States, including myself, agree on that definition, there are a select few who do not. Some feel same-sex marriage should be legalized; I disagree! I disagree because of its effects on children, its unnaturalness, and its religious immorality. My first argument addresses the effects of homosexual parents on children; and children affected by homosexuality in general. A child living in a home with homosexual parents encounters the problem of the lack of either a mother or father figure, which is important in raising a child, instead of being raised by both a mother and a father. Studies have shown that being raised by a mother and a father, children are less likely to do drugs, commit suicide, or become pregnant (Dobson). Another disadvantage to homosexual rearing is the child may become confused about his or her gender and sexuality. One source explained that females raised in a lesbian home are four times as likely to become lesbians themselves; and for males raised in a gay home, they are twice as likely to become gay as well (Kiley 2). Another concern for children with homosexual parents is sexual abuse from one or both of the parents, which is fifty times as likely as opposed to heterosexual parents (Kiley 2). By legalizing same-sex marriages, we would not only be affecting children of those couples, but all children through the school system. Public schools would be forced to teach homosexuality; textbooks would have to illustrate same-sex relationships, and this could affect children as young as those in elementary school (Dobson). A man and a woman are like two puzzle pieces that fit