Communications and Media

Definition of Terms
Marriage   Defined online by the Merriam-Webster English Dictionary as the state of being united to a person of the opposite sex as a husband or wife in a consensual and contractual relationship recognized by law or to a person of the same sex in a relationship like that of a traditional marriage (Webster, Marriage).

Right  Something to which one has a just claim or the power or privilege to which one is justly entitled (Webster, Right).

Homosexuals  A person who is characterized by a tendency to direct sexual desire toward another of the same sex (Webster, Homosexual).

Evidence
Smith, Susan. On Faith Panelists Blog Marriage a Civil Right, not Sacred Rite.The Washington Post. The Washington Post, 30 07 2009. Web. 4 Apr 2010. httpnewsweek.washingtonpost.comonfaithpanelistssusan_k_smith200907marriage_a_civil_right_not_sacred_rite.html.

Tagline Marriage is a contract, which is a legal concept by virtue of separation of church and state, homosexuals may not be denied being able to marry because of religious reasons.

Quotation Marriage is a civil union between two people, a covenant of agreement that they will live together and love each other. The marriage contract gives them legal permission to economically support each other and to benefit from each other.

Bill of Rights.LIILegal Information Institute. Cornell University Law School, n.d. Web. 4 Apr 2010. httptopics.law.cornell.educonstitutionbillofrights.

Tagline To prohibit homosexuals from being able to contract marriage in the US using religious reasons is unconstitutional as it is against the non-establishment clause.

Quotation Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Tagline The Constitution may not be interpreted in such a way to deny people their rights so the homosexuals, as human beings and citizens of the US may not be denied the right to contract marriage, which is a legal procedure.

Quotation The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Robinson, B.A. Homosexual (Same Sex) Marriages Background Information. Religious Tolerance.org Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance. Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance, 23 12 2007. Web. 4 Apr 2010. httpwww.religioustolerance.orghom_mar2.htm.
Tagline The recognition of same-sex relationships is a right supported by numerous US legislations, and marriage being the next step is also supported by such.

Quotation Recognition of same-sex relationships is built upon a foundation of thousands of other Federal, StateProvince, County, City and company victories for equal rights, engineered by thousands of gay and lesbian activists, and made possible by millions of gays, lesbians and bisexuals who have individually come out of the closet.

Gertsmann, Evan.Same-Sex Marriage and The Constitution. 1st ed. Cambridge Cambridge University Press, 2003. 85-114. Print.

Tagline Same sex marriages have the necessary characteristics of traditional marriages, so reasons for the ban are arguably arbitrary homosexuals have the right to be legally secured in their relationships.
Quotation The Courts list of the important attributes of marriage makes it crystal clear that the right to marry is not merely a precursor of the right to have children or raise them in a traditional setting. In fact ... most of these attributes are as applicable to same-sex couples as to heterosexual couples ... Regarding the numerous governmental benefits to which spouses are entitled, most would be available to same-sex couples as well as traditional couples Social Security benefits, tenancy in the entirety, and inheritance rights.

Tagline The right to marry is not limited to the view of it as a predicate to child-bearing, so arguments with that line of reasoning are invalid.

Quotation It has been suggested that the right to marry is a predicate to other rights, rather than a right in and of itself. The idea that the right marry is simply the logical predicate to procreation and childbearing has been an important and influential part of the debate on same-sex marriage. In this view, marriage is not a free-standing constitutional right, but a right that results from societys interest in the bearing and raising of children in a traditional family setting.

Cantor, Donald, James Black, Elizabeth Cantor, and Campbell Barrett.Same-Sex Marriage The Legal and Psychological Evolution in America. 1st ed. Connecticut Wesleyan University Press, 2006. 149-168. Print.

Tagline Homosexuals have the same needs in life that heterosexuals do.
Quotation  What is the ultimate justification for any law if not the happiness of those it affects I struggled with the problem of grasping fully the meaning of the right to marry to same-sex couples. ... All I had to do was imagine how qualitatively my life would have been diminished over the past twenty-eight years had I been unable to marry my wife. ... If heterosexual people can understand that theygay peoplelive with the same needs as we do, perhaps their view of same-sex marriage will change.