The Battle Over Same-Sex Marriage Essay -- Gay Marriage

Same-sex marriage has grown into to a national issue. In 2003, the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples had the right to marry which provoked a firestorm of debate. The discussion extends from private livings rooms and local watering holes; all the way to the floor of the U.S. Congress and the White House. The debate about same-sex marriage has become a hot button issue, which pits secular-progressives who support gay-rights against religious and social traditionalists fighting for the sanctity of marriage. When La Shawn Barber, Anna Quindlen, Andrew Sullivan and the editors at National Review wrote their opinion pieces regarding the topic of same-sex marriage the debate had already been raging for many years and it still is today. Freelance writer La Shawn Barber and the editors of National Review oppose same-sex marriage and argue that legalizing same-sex marriage would fundamentally redefine marriage and weaken it as a social institution. Conversely, contributing editor of Newsweek magazine, Anna Quindlen, and â€Å"The Daily Dish† blogger Andrew Sullivan support same-sex marriage and stress that same-sex couples should be treated no different than heterosexual couples, including when it comes to the right to marry. In â€Å"The Loving Decision,† Quindlen uses the example of the historic court case Loving v. Virginia, which legalized interracial marriage, to argue that homosexuals should be allowed to marry whomever they want. Quindlen maintains that the Loving v. Virginia case is applicable to the modern-day fight for same-sex marriage because this is an issue of civil rights violations, much like the original case from 1968. In contrast, Barber, counters in â€Å"Interracial Marriage: Slippery Slo... ...Department of Public Health. Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. 18 Nov. 2003. Print. Quindlen, Anna. "The Loving Decision." The Daily Beast. Newsweek/Daily Beast, 14 Nov. 2008. Web. 28 March 2015. . Sullivan, Andrew. "The Right's Contempt For Gay Lives." The Atlantic. 8 Apr. 2009. Web. 28 March 2015. . Vamburkar, Meenal. "Coulter To Hannity: Liberals Use Judicial Activism To Invent Rightsâ„ ¢ Like Abortion, Gay Marriage." Coulter To Hannity: Liberals Use Judicial Activism To Invent Rightsâ„ ¢ Like Abortion, Gay Marriage. 5 Apr. 2012. Web. 28 March 2015. .