Introduction To Gay Marriage English Language Essay

The society today tends to stick to what they know and hold on to the familiar. Therefore when something unfamiliar comes along the society resists acceptance, instead they dismiss the issue by denying its existence. Unfortunately, gay marriage is one of the issues that the society has come to refuse to accept and deal with. Maybe, it is because they do not know how to approach it or maybe the issue just took them by surprise and they just need a moment to recover. For whatever reason, the society has chosen to ban gay marriage in Palau.

Same sex marriage is new to us all, I completely understand that fact. It was not until recently that we found out that there are certain people that are into liking the same sex. However if we come to think of it, many things regarding marriage, has all, at one point in life, been new to us. In fact when I asked my grandfather, whose name is Kanai Edesomel, what traditional marriage was like back in the old days he said that marriage, traditionally, was mostly arranged. My grandfather went on to say that children back then did not have a say in who they were going to marry. The parents were the ones that chose who their children was going to marry based on a persons character, family background, and how the marriage is going to benefit their own family. Based on what my grandfather told me about marriage in the old days and how marriage is today, I would have to say that Palau has come a long way from arranged marriage. In an article published in the New York Times, William Saletan pointed out how we, members of the society, don’t realize how marriage has continuously changed over time, “usually in ways so congenial”. In the same article William Saletan noted that not only is “change part of the tradition but tradition will be part of the change”.(Saletan) We, Palauans have slowly broke away from our traditional way in marriage, because whether we realize it or not the world we live in today demands change from us. We are becoming diversely knowledgeable therefore we have to adjust traditions to match the world we live in today and the knowledge we have; and if not adjust traditions we shall make new traditions. In being able to adjust and come up with new traditions we shall become more accepting of same sex marriage. This is all your opinion-not research.

We have to stop and consider people in our society who are gay, they are not doing anything wrong; they are just being who they are. Gay cannot help the way they feel. During the 1990’s a scientist named Laura S. Allen did an experiment on the human brain. For her experiment, Laura compared the brain of heterosexuals and homosexuals. She came to find that that the hypothalamus, which is the part of the brain that is connected to the sexual drive and function, for homosexuals are bigger that hypothalamus for heterosexual. (“Biological Basis for Homosexuality”) Therefore, I can say, based on Allen’s experiment results, that gay people do not choose to be gay; they are born gay. The society should not deny gay people marriage because they think that gay people choose to be this way. I asked a couple of Palauans who are against gay marriag, why they chose to be against it? Most of them said that they think that being gay is not right and people that are gay are sinner. That is why I say that gay people does not choose to be gay, they are born this way. Another study that was done on homosexuals to determine whether they were born gay or not, that is quite similar to Laura Allen’s experiment also came up with the similar results as Laura Allen’s experiment. The experiment I am talking about is by Simon LaVay, who also studies both homosexuals and heterosexual brains and compared them.(Biological Basis of Homosexuality) Although, the overall study on whether people are born gay or choose to be gay is inconclusive, there are been evidence shown that gay people were born the way they are, just like experiments I have told you about. We can never know for sure if gay people were born this way or chose the path that they are on. However, if you think about it, no one in their right minds would choose an identity that is descriminated and hated by the society.

Now that I have mentioned descrimination let me just tell you that by denying gay people marriage we are descriminating gay people. We are always enforcing equality in our society, and yet we are not treating gay people equally by not allowing them to marry and receive the benefits that any traditional couple will receive when they marry. In the constitution of the Republic of Palau under Article 4, section five it clearly says, “Every person shall be equal under the law and shall be entitled to equal protection. The government shall take no action to discriminate against any person on the basis of sex, race, place of origin, language, religion or belief, social status or clan affiliation except for the preferential treatment of citizens, for the protection of minors, elderly, indigent, physically or mentally handicapped, and other similar groups, and in matters concerning intestate succession and domestic relations. No person shall be treated unfairly in legislative or executive investigations.”(“Constitution of the Republic of Palau”.1979) By denying gay people marriage we are descriminating against peoples race and believes, if that does not go against the constitution I do not know what does.

I all comes down to morality, what do we think is right to do? While deciding we shall consider the changes in marriage throughout the years. At the same time consider that gay people cannot change who they are, just like we cannot change who we are; in changing who we are we are denying ourselves. Also we have to consider the laws that have been set out for our society.

Work Cited:

Saletan,William “The Peculiar Institution”.Sunday Book Review(2004):3.The New York Times.Web.26 September 2004.

“Biological Basis for Homosexuality.”.Biobasis(2003):7151.Geocities.Web.8 April 2003.

“The Constitution of the Republic of Palau”.Palau Consolidated Lagilation.(1998):Paclii.Web.2 April 1979.

Research Evaluation

Thoroughness of Research: 4 – Extremely thorough, strong thesis supported by research, paper has purpose and not just facts, variety of sources 3 – research good overall but some areas need additional research, thesis and research mostly support each other, purpose to research (not just facts) three types of sources 2 – Basic research is good, paper has thesis but weak, more facts than purpose, additional research to support thesis needed throughout, two sources used 1 – Research is insufficient throughout, very weak or missing thesis, paper mostly facts, insufficient sources

Structure and Organization: 4 – Information is extremely well organized and easy to understand, correct person used throughout the paper, appropriate transitions used so paragraphs blend together 3 – Organization is generally good but some information is misplaced, some error in person, some use of transitions so paragraphs somewhat blend 2 – Organization falls apart in several areas but the basic structure of the paper is good, multiple errors in person, few transitions so paper reads fairly choppy 1 – Overall structure of the paper is not well thought out causing paper to be unorganized, many errors in person, insufficient or no transitions results in paragraphs not connecting causing choppy reading

Development: 4 – Excellent introduction with proper thesis placement, each point is clearly identified and explained, strong conclusion which restates purpose, points and has closure

3 – Good introduction with proper thesis placement, most points are clearly identified and explained, good conclusion which summarizes and has closure 2 – fair introduction which contains thesis, some points are thoroughly explained, while others need development, fair conclusion 1 – Weak introduction, most or all points still need a lot of development, poor conclusion causing paper to end abruptly

Originality of Voice: 4 – Research material has been thoroughly incorporated into the writer’s own words 3 – Most of the paper reflects the tone of the writer 2 – A great part of the research material still reflects the tone and style of the original source 1 – The research paper reads as if most of it were simply copied from original texts (PLAGIARISM)

Citations: 4 – Writer has made citations in all areas where they quoted, paraphrased or summarized and effectively sandwiched in 3 – Citations were made and sandwiched in effectively for most quotations, paraphrases and summaries, 2 – Some citations were made and some attempt to sandwich in 1 – No citations were made at all or citations do not fit into original writing

Grammar, Mechanics and Spelling: 4 – Writer showed care in proofreading; only occasional errors occur 3 – Errors are common 2 – Paper has multiple errors in every paragraph; sometimes the errors make the paper hard to understand 1 – Paper has many errors, making it very difficult to read and understand

Works Cited page: title, alphabetized, correct indentation, resources correctly formatted, sufficient number of resources listed, correctly punctuated (4 to 1 points)

Format: Format: font size and style correct, 1 inch margins, right side ragged (no justification), title page correctly formatted, paper double spaced, paragraphs indented, reference page correctly titled and formatted, header with last name and page number on top right. (4 to 1 points)

Overall Total: *32-29 (A range) Excellent work; well written

*28-21 (B range) good; yet additional polish is needed

32=A *20-13 (C range) Fair; effort still needs to be done to finish the

24=B research paper

16=C *12-05 (D range) Poor; all areas of the research paper still need a

8=D lot of work;

4=F *04- 0 (F range) unacceptable; poor attention to rough draft

comments, still lacking sufficient research

The paper should be mostly written in third person. Only when you discuss personal issues, would you use the first person pronoun. The use of we throughout the paper needs to be changed. Use third person and use nouns more than pronouns. In addition, you have not punctuated the in-text citation properly. Note where the period goes. Your resource page is not correctly formatted either. You also have to be careful not to write your opinion so much. Back up what you say with research.