New York State Legalizes the Right to Marry Who You Love
July 7, 2011
Imagine it: You meet that perfect someone and the two of you fall in love. You make plans to spend the rest of your lives together, but there’s a hitch. You aren’t allowed to get married, because you two happen to be of the same sex. Bogus, right?
Well, that’s the world we live in today, but slowly it is changing. On Friday, June 24th, the New York State Senate passed a bill that legalizes same-sex marriage. New York became the sixth state to do so, joining Massachusetts, Iowa, Connecticut, Vermont and New Hampshire. The District of Columbia also recognizes gay marriage.
So what does this mean? Well, there will be another 30 days from the day of the signing of the bill before gay people can officially marry, but it’s a huge step in the right direction. Marriage equality advocates hope Maryland, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania and California will be added to the list of states that allow same-sex marriage. While advocates hope to continue to make progress, there are still states that are adding restrictions to their already limited laws regarding marriage; these laws ban same-sex marriage in some states or strictly limit who a man or woman can marry.
We all have the right to love, so why don’t we all have the right to marry who we love? Hopefully, in the near future, all fifty states in our union will allow same-sex marriage, but until then we must stand for the right to marry who we love regardless of sexual orientation.
