Imagine falling in love, not just with anyone… but with someone you never thought you could fall in love with. You want to spend the rest of your life with this person, so you decide to get married. Now imagine being told no. “No, you can’t marry this person because it’s wrong,” or “No, marrying this person is immoral.” Why, you may ask? Because they are the same sex as you. Because you’re a man in love with another man or a woman in love with another woman. You can’t spend the rest of your life with someone you love because people just can’t seem to fully accept the fact that two people of the same sex can be together. People are basically willing to sacrifice your happiness, and they just don’t care.

Gay marriage is currently banned in 35 states and is currently legal in 14 states. Many people have put forth much effort to support gay rights over the years, which have gotten better for same sex couples, but not good enough. Every state should allow gay marriage, not just 14, but every single state.

There are many reasons why gay marriage should be legal in every state. Gay marriages don’t just benefit the people getting married; they benefit children as well. Since gay couples can’t have children, they can adopt. This allows many children who have been waiting to have homes. Also, gay marriages can, and often do, bring financial gain to state and local governments. According to ProCon.Org, Revenue from gay marriage comes from marriage licenses, higher income taxes (the so-called “marriage penalty”), and a decrease in the costs of state-benefit programs. The Comptroller for New York City found that legalizing gay marriage would bring $142 million to the city’s economy and $184 million to the state’s economy over three years.

Legalizing gay marriage will not harm heterosexual marriages or “family values,” and society will continue to function just fine. Gay marriage causes no harm to society, it doesn’t kill anyone. It doesn’t affect anyone outside of gay couples, but people choose to make it a big deal. The topic of gay marriage could have been a less-complicated topic if people weren’t so overly dramatic and critical. California, Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, and New Jersey legalized gay marriage by court decision. Delaware, Minnesota, New Hampshire , New York , Rhode Island and Vermont legalized gay married by state legislature. Maine, Maryland, Washington, and Washington DC legalized gay marriage by popular vote.

DOMA is the so-called “Defense of Marriage Act,” which in 1996; Congress passed and signed it into law by President Bill Clinton. Section Three is the part that prevented the federal government from recognizing any marriages between gay or lesbian couples for the purpose of federal laws or programs, even if those couples are considered legally married by their home state. It has now been declared unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court. Committed same-sex couples who are legally married in their own states can now receive federal protections such as Social Security, veterans’ benefits, health insurance and retirement savings.

Those who oppose gay marriage may say “marriage is a privilege, not a right.” If this is true, then why can’t same sex couples have the same privileges as everyone else? Because parents don’t want to explain to their child why two men are holding hands while walking down the sidewalk? Because it might influence others to be more open on their sexuality? Or because the institution of marriage has traditionally been defined as between a man and a woman? We change and people should be open for it.