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Tomoya Cruz
English 1010
Jim Beatty
11/13/15
A Horrendous Claim
Within the past year of 2015 the fight for LGBT rights have started to even out with gay
marriage becoming legal in every state in the U.S. However, we still see from various States the
resistance from the new rights that have been given to the LGBT community, and others that
praise and encourage those who fight against a simple right such as marriage because it is against
their belief to discriminate against someone who is deemed living wrong or that the
government should stay out of their religious acts such as marriage. Though they feel like they
are protecting their own religious rights, what they are actually doing is taking away civil rights
from the LGBT community in order to gain the financial benefits once a couple gets married. To
tell the government to butt out of marriage means that these religious bondages should not gain
financial benefits the government provides through marriage.
Fewer than a third of all U.S. states have laws protecting people from discrimination
based on sexual orientation, and only a handful prohibit discrimination based on a persons
gender identity or expression. There are no federal protections for LGBT civil rights.
LGBT Legal Advocates GLAD
The argument that most people have when it comes to gay marriage is that it is not
traditional and that though they may not care what another persons life style may be, when it
effects them personally, it becomes a huge issue. Thought gay marriage is a huge controversy,
there is are a few recent acts after many of us thought that the fight was finally coming to an end.
One huge issue for me was the woman that refused to issue marriage licenses to same sex
couples. Kentucky clerk, Kim Davis was a huge topic for a short and insignificant amount of
time, but what she did and how she feels about her actions infuriate me for how noble she felt for
defying a U.S. Federal Court order requiring that she issue marriage licenses to same-sex

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couples. How she had the audacity to claim that she was not a hero, or claiming that she was
acting under Gods authority. Supporters of her also argued that the government should stay
out of religious ceremonies and keep the church separate from state. The problem however is that
the government has tangled itself into marriage by granting benefits to those who are married. If
the government were to truly stay out of religious ceremonies then such benefits as tax benefits,
such as being able to give tax free gifts to a spouse and to file joint tax returns or discount or
family rates for auto, health and homeowners insurance would not be given to those who are
married as well. Marriage licenses become a government issue because it isnt a holy bondage of
souls between to people in this era as it was in the past, but also a government license to be able
to gain those financial benefits. (Eyeer Katie)
Another more recent controversy that once again involves a church is the issue between
the LDS church removing the children from same sex couples from their church. The
controversial topic in for us in Utah as an act that may have had been for good intentions go
wrong as many took it (for good reasons) the wrong way. The intent for removing the children
from the church was so that the children would not have to choose between either the church or
their parents. Though they may have thought that this was an act of kindness to the children, they
forgot about many of the consequences that would follow up after removing the children of a
huge group of people that belong to the church. Once again there is the argument that many
people could care less about what someone does with their life, that so long as it does not affect
them, they could care less about what another person does. Many are upset that this affects them
personally. That a group of people would try and force their church to change their ways, and
their beliefs.
In such cases, I do believe that there is some logic to this reasoning. A friend of mine
mentioned Freedom of association and how it is basically the right of organizations and

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individuals to associate with whom they choose within their own circles. No
organization/individual has the right to forcibly join another organization/individual that has
rejected them. (Freedom of Association and Assembly) The LDS church does not want
homosexuals to join the church because they do not represent the views of the LDS church, they
contradict them. It also does not want their children to join not only because the children are
going to form opposing views within the church because of their parents (which would cause a
mindset shift within the youth of the church to some degree.) but also because the church does
not want to cause contention within the homes of those children by teaching them views that go
at odds with their parents beliefs.
Yes this argument works to an extent and the recent controversy has since died down and
is not a huge topic today as it had been a month prior, however, in the case of Gay Marriage and
how the religious matrimony between same sex couples is contradicting to Christian beliefs,
the fact that the government is already involved in the religious bond contradicts the whole
argument of the separation of church and state. When the government is already completely
entangled within marriage, how can someone claim that they are doing a heroic act by refusing
to give someone their right as an American Citizen or more so as a human being? How can a
government official be allowed to use unjust reasoning and claim what they did was right? We
have judges, taking away adopted children from same sex couples without reason, and clerks
refusing to give marriage licenses and we praise them and call them heroes for going against the
governments decision.
To think that within a few months our nation would change and become more accepting
towards something as controversial as same sex marriage is a nave thought. Though we would
love to think that our country is more accepting now than it was seventy years ago, we still see
acts of discrimination to anyone to this day. Recent acts of terrorism has caused many radical

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people to start pushing for the ban of Muslims in stores, neighborhoods, hell, even in our
countries. Shootings at schools are being questioned whether or not the ISIS terrorist group was
involved, and we have politicians proposing to remove Muslims from our country. These are all
reactions to various points in the 1900-2000 from World War I to World War II to the Cold war
and so on. When we have a nation that still parallels discriminatory acts from the past century, it
is impossible to even dream that with a couple months, one simple act can change our nation to
becoming more equal and accepting.
Its engrained in our system through the media as we laugh and joke at stereotypical
characters such as Achmed the Dead Terrorist by Jeff Dunham to portray a Muslim terrorist, or to
an older reference: Him, from the Power Puff Girls to portray a transsexual red-lobster high-heel
wearing villain. These characters shown to children (Though Achmed is shown in standup
comedy, the show was rated PG-13, many children watched the puppet jest.) have engraved into
our minds as evil villains. Weve been influenced to think that these characteristics are bad since
childhood. And when you have someone that has been influenced by this culture, whether it be
by church or the media, by claiming that youre acting on Gods will as an excuse to discriminate
against a group of people doesnt make you a hero as Davis would like to believe, it simply
makes you bigotry.
Works Cited
Eyeer Katie. Have We Arrived Yet? LGBT Rights and the Limits of Formal Equality. 13 Nov.
2015 http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1583965
Human Rights Campaign. Overview of Federal Benefits Granted to Married Couples. 13 Nov.
2015 http://www.massequality.org/content/federal-rights-and-protections-grantedmarried-couples

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LGBT Legal Advocates GLAD. Boston Massachusetts. 13 Nov. 2015 http://www.glad.org/
"Freedom of Association and Assembly." West's Encyclopedia of American Law, edition 2. 2008.
The Gale Group 17 Dec. 2015 http://legaldictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Freedom+of+Association+and+Assembly