IS SAME SEX MARRIAGE GOOD OR BAD FOR SOCIETY ?

Love is love is love !

It has no age ,no gender, no limit ,no fear,

and no death! Love is eternal, infinite, invincible,

unsurmountable, unmeasurable and always like

itself………..that is SWEET AND PURE.

As the great Mahatma Gandhi once said

“Where there is no love, there is no life”!

Have you ever imagined yourself being in a situation where you are not being allowed to get married to the person of your choice? How would it feel? Well there are many who are living this reality and are not free to practice their choices, reason being their gender.

Marriage is about life long commitment between two souls regarding love, caring and sharing. So since when it has become a matter of gender? Same sex couples are denied this choice, why? I mean it is just two lovers getting married, right? But some people think it is an abomination to society……how come? I believe people should be able to choose who they want to love without any external intervention.

Remember when women did not have rights? Just because they thought women were weak? This case is no different. Same sex couples are often criticized for picking their own gender over the other one but that is not true. The fact is that THEY DO NOT HAVE A CHOICE, SINCE THEY WERE BORN THAT WAY. So, they can not choose the other gender even if they wanted to. And therefore we should remember that all human beings are born with equal rights despite their sexual preference!

This concept has received mixed reactions. Those who are criticizing it believe that same sex marriage is contrary to the word of god and the law of nature; thence it is incompatible with the beliefs, sacred texts and traditions of many religious groups. Other pertinent concern are:-

> Adopted children by such couples might not get suitable environment as they will be reared and educated into a lifestyle that is not natural before they are old enough to understand the discrepancies ? Hence, they may experience confusion and embarrassment in public surroundings.

> It might influence other people in a negative manner as it will create confusion in minds about one's own sexuality even more. And people really like to experiment. After all, we are curious beings. Growing up one could get easily misled about their sexuality because of lack of proper understanding and knowledge provided about it and consequently might choose the path that they never would have had they been taught about it. Eventually it can lead to mental health issues as well.

> Permitting it may also lead to exploitation of many children and adults. There could arise a situation when heterosexual people are conveniently exploited for the sexual desires of the powerful, rich and influential homosexual people. And unfortunately, there would be no remedy.

> It needs acceptance by people to be successful. In countries like India where society is still not as evolved and where 69% of it’s population is still rural (where system and mindset is more rigid),such concept of same sex relationship will not be easily considered, let alone accepting it. In a survey, it was found that only 18% of Indians accept it whereas it is 60% in USA.

> Society was raised on the idea that everything was built on a traditional family of man, woman and children. The main reason cultures and values started to corrupt is because of the weakening of families and same sex marriage would further weaken it.

Because no change is appreciated until it contributes to the betterment of society in one way or another, proponents of an inclusive society have long contested that merits of same sex marriage far outweighs the demerits of it.

In an overpopulated countries like India, encouragement of same sex matrimonies would lead to lower population growth as it would naturally not be possible for such couples to give births, so it’s likely that they would go for adoption.

A more stable society was created over the years, with a better understanding of each other and acceptance for the different. For that reason no society can ever make a progress if one segment of it is lagging behind. Change is the law of nature and resenting to it will hinder in our evolution, hence leading to the extinction of human species. So it’s high time we should realize that there are more than two genders and we all are equally important.

We need to understand that is not a new concept. People of other genders has been there since ancient times. And it has never been easy for them, as they were subjected to various atrocities, discrimination and embarrassment which is unjust and inhuman. Lack of education about it has made the matters even worse.

Most important thing to be noted here is that, it leads to suicides as well. Feeling outcasted and abnormal, being subjected to teasing, shaming and not being able to live freely with dignity or practice even their basic rights makes their life worse than hell which may lead them to take such decision.

Understanding that it’s as normal to be of any other gender as it is to be a man or woman and accepting it will certainly make many lives happier and will result into a peaceful, inclusive, just and prosperous society.

Adopted children by such couples would be more likely to have wider and holistic perspectives. They will be less conscious about a person’s gender and would value the person’s attributes rather. It will help to blur the lines of gender defined roles which will ultimately lead to developing a gender neutral society.

And last but not the least it would be an encouraging shift towards adherence to the law of human rights, which dictates that no human should live under a mask of shame ,fear, discrimination and oppression.

But we should also understand that the seeds of prejudice prevalent in our society, however, will not change overnight. Our traditions and social construct are vastly different from those of western society and a change in mindset is a process that might take decades and even centuries.

Nonetheless, the change should begin somewhere. So, in order to make children better understand the concept of same sex attraction and about the LGBTQ+ community, proper sex education must be introduced in school level. Hopefully, it will lead to eradication of ambiguity enveloping this issue and will help in normalizing the concept.

Consequently, it will make the world a happier place where everyone feels they are accepted and appreciated. And moreover, people could finally be able to be themselves unapologetically and own their sexuality and individuality with pride.

MAN TO MAN, WOMAN TO WOMAN, HEART TO HEART, THERE IS NO FORCE STRONG ENOUGH TO TEAR OUR LOVE APART !