Sample Research Paper On A Case Against Gay Marriage

On May 17, 2004, at Cambridge, Massachusetts, the United States saw the first legal gay marriage ever officiated in the country (Cooperman, Finer, & Barbash, 2004). Since then, the country has seen an 80.4% growth of same-sex households as of 2010 (as cited in Roberts & Stark, 2014). Judging by these numbers, it is safe to assume that more people are accepting gay marriages as a social norm, which is even strengthened by the advocacy of personalities like Ellen DeGeneres and Neil Patrick Harris. It should not come as a surprise that by 2014, already 55% of Americans support the legalization of gay marriages (Roberts & Stark, 2014). However, it fails to achieve universal agreement as many people not only in the US but also around the world refuse to accept it as something moral or, at the very least, legal. Despite the growing number of gay couples, gay marriage should be banned because homosexual couples are prone to sexually transmitted diseases, gay couples could not reproduce, and even if they could, serious problems await their children.
First, deadly diseases are rampant among homosexual couples, and encouraging gay marriage may only lead to more victims of these diseases. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the cases of sexually-transmitted diseases (STDs) among gay men have increased and have accounted for 75% of the syphilis cases in the US in 2012 (“Sexually Transmitted Diseases”). Aside from STDs, gay couples are at risk for even more serious diseases like cancer and “are 17 times more likely to develop anal cancer than heterosexual men” (“Sexually Transmitted Diseases”). Clearly, men who are in same-sex relationships are prone to acquire these diseases. Lesbian women are not safe either as they are at risk for bacterial vaginosis, hepatitis C, and HIV (“Questions and Answers: What's Wrong With Letting Same-Sex Couples 'Marry?'”). With the legalization of gay marriage, more people may be encouraged to enter homosexual relationships, and in effect, the number of those afflicted with deadly diseases may rise. Thus, gay marriage should be discouraged.
Next, while some gay couples are completely healthy and free from serious diseases, it remains a fact that they are unable to naturally conceive children. It is common knowledge that one of the basic purposes of marriage, as stated in the Bible, is procreation. Going beyond religion, many scholars stand by the importance of reproduction and how marriages should be able to contribute to procreation. According to marriage scholar, Maggie Gallagher, “marriage across societies is a public sexual union that creates kinship obligations and sharing of resources between men, women, and the children their sexual union may produce” (as quoted in “Questions and Answers: What's Wrong With Letting Same-Sex Couples 'Marry?'”). This means that reproduction does not only concern the couple; it is also crucial in the development of an entire society. It is, then, not farfetched to think that procreation is essential for humanity’s survival and that the fast growth of gay marriages may be a detriment.
Finally, even though counterarguments about gay couples conceiving using medical interventions or adopting consistently arise, there is reason to believe that gay couples raising a child is problematic. There is a reason why the mother is female while the father is male, and the absence of either of these sexes can have a negative effect on the children. Bruce J. Ellis, a University of Canterbury professor, says that “greater exposure to father absence was strongly associated with elevated risk for early sexual activity and adolescent pregnancy” (as quoted in Normandin, 2011). On the flipside, Stanford psychologist Eleanor MacCoby states that “mothers, on average, may have somewhat stronger parental ‘instincts’ when it comes to responding to young infants” (as quoted in Normandin, 2011). It can be inferred that different sexes take on different parental roles: the male father takes on the role of protecting and guiding while the female mother takes on the role of nurturing and nourishing. Since homosexual households lack one of the two sexes, it is possible that a child raised in these households may also lack part of the essential guidance and nurturing that he needs.
In conclusion, even though gay marriage is undeniably gaining support and popularity among Americans, it should be discouraged. The rising numbers of homosexual households as well as the growing count of famous same sex couples prove this popularity. However, for society’s and the future generation’s sake, there is a need to ban gay marriage. Legalizing gay marriage encourages more people to enter a homosexual relationship, placing them at risk for deadly diseases. Also, gay marriage defeats the purpose of procreation, which is essential not only in the religious sense but also in the basic survival of humanity. And last but certainly not the least, letting children be raised in homosexual households is problematic because the role of parenthood needs to be fulfilled by two distinct sexes to be effect. Can these reasons, which concern humanity’s health, survival, and morality, be so easily refuted?

Works Cited

Cooperman, A., Finer, J., & Barbash, F. (2004, May 17). Gay Couples Wed in Mass. The Washington Post. Retrieved March 10, 2015, from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A32954-2004May17.html
Normandin, R. (2011, July 6). Opinion: Gay marriage should not be made legal. The Tech Online. Retrieved March 10, 2015, from http://tech.mit.edu/V131/N29/normandin_cp.html
Roberts, A., & Stark, C. (2014, October 7). By the numbers: Same-sex marriage. CNN. Retrieved March 10, 2015, from http://edition.cnn.com/2012/05/11/politics/btn-same-sex-marriage/
Sexually Transmitted Diseases. (2014, July 2). Retrieved March 10, 2015, from http://www.cdc.gov/msmhealth/STD.htm
Sprigg, P. (n.d.). Questions and Answers: What's Wrong With Letting Same-Sex Couples 'Marry?' Retrieved March 10, 2015, from http://www.frc.org/whats-wrong-with-letting-same-sex-couples-marry