Running Head: WHAT MAKES BEING GAY WRONG?

What Makes Being Gay Wrong?

Jesus M. Saenz
University of Texas at El Paso

Running Head: WHAT MAKES BEING GAY WRONG?

Abstract
To write this paper, I conducted a lot of research on the certain issue in the United States, which
is gay marriage and gay racism that happens here in the United States. The research for the paper
I got from the books called, Strangers to the law Gay people on trial by. Lisa Keen and Suzanne
B. Goldberg and the other book is called, Racism and Sexual Oppression in Angelo- America
By. Ladelle McWhorter. The other places that I got information for the paper, were in the
internet newspaper articles like from the LA Times, NY Times, and articles in that nature. The
research that Im trying to find is information on the justice system between the courts and
between the gay communities around the United States, I discovered the stories behind the states
decisions to either legalize or illegalize gay marriages in the United States, all these resources
were pretty good for help with this paper. In this paper I will be putting down both sides of the
issue in terms of the debates on gay marriage and gay racism.

Running Head: WHAT MAKES BEING GAY WRONG?

Have you ever met or known someone who is gay? And if you did how did you feel
about it awkward or were you pretty ok with knowing someone that was gay? Ive known many
people that are gay, one of those people is my best friend, and to me there is nothing wrong that
because its not awkward to me and because in my view who am I to judge someone, they arent
anything different because they are people. But what gives the rest of America the right to judge
them, and say they arent apart of this world? Religion? Personal Views? Or were they brought
up by their parents to think that way? Whatever it is, it needs to stop because its not right, this is
not the American way of life. But the gay marriage issue isnt the only thing that should be fixed
for gay people, but also the laws that protect them from harm. Many gay people have been
brutally murdered by people filled with hatred towards them, and they arent protected by the
law.
Racism towards gays has been around since the 50s and at that time it wasnt a big issue
because many people were scared to come out and say that they were gay, they were just afraid
of the criticism that they were going to receive from people because not a lot of people were
okay with that fact of gays existing. But of course in the course of history many people werent
scared to come out of the closet. Many people werent ashamed to come to terms of what they
were and some people accepted that and were ok with it. There were a lot of people who opposed
gay people, this lead to more hatred towards them and even some violent crimes towards gay,
some people who oppose gays tend to use violent crimes towards them to show their hate. These
days there are more laws to prevent these kind of crimes, but for 50 years now there that became
yesterdays news and now the new issues is gay marriage. This is more a political thing than a
personal thing, this has been a debate over the issue for the past few years and even though many
states have made it legal for people to marry there are some that still are harsh towards the issue.

Running Head: WHAT MAKES BEING GAY WRONG?

Now to breakdown the issue of gay marriage, Im going to explain the background of the
debate from I got from my resources, now according to the article, The Case against Gay
Marriage by Manuel Lopez, he states that , If allowed to marry, gay men will, I predict, be
more adulterous, and more openly adulterous, than heterosexual couples. From this part of the
debate I would say the point that he is trying to get across is that, gay marriage will lead to more
divorce rates and more adultery rates than it would be under a heterosexual stand point. Many
people oppose gay marriage tend to think this way, but most of the reason isnt to discriminate
but because of their religion taught them that gays are against the work of god. Religious people
think that marriage should only be man and wife, not man and man, or wife and wife. According
to the article, Doctoring Discrimination in the Same- Sex Marriage Debate by Elizabeth
Sepper, she states that, Due to states legalizing same- Sex marriage in certain states, Faced with
potential reform, some religious adherents object that marriage equality represents a threat to
their religious liberty, forcing them to participate in same-sex marriage. This states that many
states dont pass or legalize same- sex marriages in certain states because of religious purposes,
pretty much to satisfy the religious group.
Now for the other side of the debate which is for gay marriage, they believe that gay
people should have the right to marry their loved ones with no objection of any sorts. Many
people defend that to the highest point of their debates, many of these believers in gay marriage
believe that gay rights isnt or shouldnt be considered special rights as many people call gay
rights. The author stated that in her book, Racism and Sexual Oppression in Angelo- America
by Ladella McWhorter, she stated that, Gay and Lesbian Rights are not Special Rights in any
way. It isnt Special to be free from discrimination. It is an ordinary, universal entitlement of
citizenship. For this makes that freedom is all that gay people want against people who

Running Head: WHAT MAKES BEING GAY WRONG?

discriminate against them. Many people who defend gay rights see the hardship that they go
through in a daily basis and in everyday life, they see the cruelty that people who oppose can
cause to these people and they state its unfair. According to the book, Strangers to the Law:
Gay People on Trial by Lisa Keen and Suzanne B. Goldberg, they state that, We need to stop
special class status for homosexuality, its unfair especially to minorities in Colorado. This
states that people that defend gay marriage are sick and tired of the racism to the gays in the
United States, and they states that we should stop because it is not write.
The audience must understand the issue in the United States that many people that are
gay are just trying to live their lives like normal people in the United States and we the straight
people make it hard for them to live her because we make them unwelcomed here in the United
States because of our religious beliefs or because thats the way we view things. In the articles
that I have read for some research and some had to do with religious view like the Catholic view
of this issue, and it states that the Catholic faith is pro-bible but then in the end of the day they
know that this issue something that will win in favor for the gay people. Of course, the other
articles for the newspapers like the NY Times, LA Times, and etc. These papers have stated that
gay marriage is something that is going to happen whether people want it to happen or not, its
something that not going to go away all the sudden. I do believe that the newspapers are right
because I think the gay people are going to protest and do things that the Africa Americans did
during the Civil Rights movement back the 1960s, they are going to get what they want
eventually.
Many people in the United States can believe what they think is wrong and what they
thing is right because will its your god given right, but with all the rights that we have as
citizens of the United States what right do we have to judge and make the lives of people that are

Running Head: WHAT MAKES BEING GAY WRONG?

just trying to live happy so miserable? Answer is We have no right, because gay people are
human to and they deserve to be treat like humans with rights and they need some respect for
their believes and happiness.

Table 1: The Chart or Table shows the rise of Gay Marriage Support from 1988 to Present Time & Also shows the fall of
Disapproval of Gay Marriage in the same time line.

Running Head: WHAT MAKES BEING GAY WRONG?

Resources
Keen, L. M. & Goldberg, S. B. (1998). Strangers to the Law: Gay People on Trial. Ann Arbor:
University of Michigan Press. Keen is the author of this book and she was an editor For
the Washington Blade, one of the oldest and largest gay newspaper in the United States.
She wrote the book in the terms of the unfairness of gay people in the court system, the
courts cruelty towards the gays in the Unites States. Retrieved (November 9, 2014), from
Project MUSE database.
Lopez, M. A. (2005). The Case Against Gay Marriage. Good Society Journal, 14(1/2), 1-6.
Lopez in the article wrote the reasons why gay marriage opposed by many people in the
United States, he broke down the marriage side of the debate and what gay marriage can
cause in the terms of divorce and adultery. Retrieved (November 9, 2014)
McWhorter, L. (2009). Racism and Sexual Oppression in Anglo-America: A Genealogy.
Bloomington: Indiana University Press. Ladella McWhorter is the author of the book and
she was helped by many Universities to write this book and they helped her with
information on gay rights. She uses the story of a gay young 20 years old named Matthew
Shepard who was murdered by other two young 20 year olds who are considered to be a
hate crime. Retrieved (November 9, 2014), from Project MUSE database.
SEPPER, E. (2014). Doctoring Discrimination in the Same-Sex Marriage Debates. Indiana Law
Journal, 89(2), 703-762. This article, the author Sepper had broken down the gay marriage
opposition in the stand point of the religious side. She tells the readers that states dont pass the
gay marriage laws because they want to satisfy the religion groups. Retrieved (November 9,

2014)

Running Head: WHAT MAKES BEING GAY WRONG?