Being Gay and Elderly in Toronto

According to Peter Sprigg, author of â€Å"Gay Marriage Questions,† there are two reasons a civil marriage should not be granted for gay couples. One is that since they are relationships and not marriages, they should not be granted. Sprigg says that in order to have a marriage, there must be a union of a man and a woman, not a man and a man.Traditional intercourse cannot take place with two men involved. The second one is that these type relationships are harmful. They do not provide the same benefits as a marriage between a man and a woman, and their consequences are far more negative than positive. (www.nogaymarriage. com/gaymarriagequestions. html) Either way, it’s looked at, even with the evidence standing alone, it is enough to not accept the claim that gay couples should be able to legally marry. The first argument is that marriage is an institution that predates the law and the Constitution. Marriage is sociological, not legal. Laws relating to marriage just ack nowledge and keep in tact an institution that is already in existence. However, some people believe that marriage is a way of recognizing couples who are in love with each other. With that being said, they want to spend the rest of their lives together.Consider this. According to Sprigg, love and companionship were sufficient to define marriage, then there would be no reason to deny â€Å"marriage† to unions of a child and an adult, or an adult child and his aging parent, or to roommates who have no sexual relationship. Most people think that the sexual element is what defines a marriage. However, marriage is so much more than that. According to Webster, marriage is a mutual relationship between husband and wife; the institution whereby men and women are joined in a special kind of social and legal dependence for the purpose of founding and maintaining a family.Anthropologist Kingsley Davis says that marriage is â€Å"the unique trait of what is commonly called marriage is s ocial recognition and approval†¦of a couple’s engaging in sexual intercourse and bearing and rearing children. † The question was raised, are married couples without children really in a marriage? If gay couples are denied to marry, shouldn’t straight couples without children be denied also? According to what Sprigg had to say concerning marriage and children, this would make sense, would it not? Not necessarily.If a couple wants children, and for some reason cannot have them, it is not their fault. A couple who decides not to have children may change their minds. At any rate, childless marriages are still acknowledged because if not, it would be an invasion of a heterosexual couples privacy to require that they show intent to bear children, or the ability to have children. So, what is the real purpose of marriage? Anthropologist Kingsley Davis says that a marriage’s purpose is to socially recognized and approved to engage in sexual intercourse and be ar and rear children.Another marriage scholar, Maggie Gallagher says that â€Å"marriage across societies is a public sexual union that creates kinship obligations and sharing of resources between men, women, and the children their sexual union may produce. The mere biological conception and birth of children are not enough to make sure that reproduction of a healthy and successful society. Paul Nathanson, the homosexual scholar says that there are at least five functions that marriage serves—things that every culture must do in order to survive and thrive. They are: 1. Foster the bonding between men and women 2.Foster the birth and rearing of children 3. Foster some form of healthy masculine identity 4. Foster the bonding between men and children 5. Foster the transformation of adolescents into sexually responsible adults Maggie Gallagher puts it more simply, saying that â€Å"children need mothers and fathers† and â€Å"marriage is the most practical way to get the m for children. Actually, when you look at it, homosexuals already have the right the right to marry just like anyone else. When applying for marriage licenses, the application does not ask for a person’s sexual orientation. Now, the freedom of homosexuals to marry is another story.Their marriage, just as any marriage stipulates that any person is legally sanctioned from marrying a child, a close blood relative, a person who is already married, or a person of the same sex. Just because homosexuals have a desire to marry, does not make it right or legal anymore than the desires of other tiny (but less vocal ) minorities of Americans gives them a right to pedophilic â€Å"marriages†, â€Å"incestuous marriages,† or polygamous â€Å"marriages. † Some feel that prohibiting same sex marriages is just as discriminatory as interracial marriages. However, that is not valid thinking.The purpose of the law against interracial marriage was to protect the social syst em of racial segregation, not to protect the nature of marriage. Preserving â€Å"racial purity† was an unworthy goal, certainly not one of the fundamental purposes of marriage common to all human civilizations. One of the arguments against gays is the fact that God is not pleased with that union. According to the Bible, Men should not be lovers of themselves and neither should women. If God said it, then, that settles it. Among all the sins mentioned in the Bible, perhaps none is more disgusting to God than that of homosexuality.God destroyed two cities in the plains of Jordan, called Sodom and Gomorrah, because their wickedness was great (Genesis 13:10-13). The English word, â€Å"sodomy† is a derivative of the word â€Å"Sodom† for the cities were full of the sins of sodomy. Now, with that in mind, how many times are people arrested for sodomizing young children or sodomizing another man? If one can get arrested for sodomizing, then evidently, it would stand to reason, that homosexuality is not right Biblically or lawfully. God created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve. â€Å"If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination.They shall surely be put to death and their blood {shall be} upon them. † (Leviticus 20:13). Homosexuality is not a disease that is inherited or a disease from birth. Homosexuality is a learned behavior, much like lying, stealing, fornication, etc. Those that learn and practice such must stop. 1 Corinthians 6:9 says, â€Å"Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolater, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.† The homosexuals will not inherit the kingdom of God. They must bring forth fruits worthy of repentance. Now, the purpose of this paper is to argue whether or not same sex marriages should take place in Toronto or anyplace else. Though the Bible or religion is not in question here, there is still the argument of whether gays should be legally married? The scripture clearly states, that this union should not be sanctioned. Consider this. It is not a sin for the color of one’s skin to be white, red, yellow, or lack, and we shouldn’t discriminate against another because of it. However, it is a sin to be a homosexual.It is not a matter of discrimination. It is a matter of right or wrong in the sight of Almighty God. Some say homosexuals are born that way and cannot change. This is another effort of men trying to justify themselves while practicing homosexuality. Homosexuality is condemned from the beginning of time to the end. One of these days, we will have to stand before God and give an account of what was we do to our bodies, smoking, homosexuality, illegal drugs, etc. In Nova-Scotia, two men were married, but they were told, t hat they could not receive communion, unless they were celibate.These two men, both 69 are now trying to make the decision whether to leave the Catholic Church because now, they must make a choice between their religion and their marriage. They were refused, because Communion wafers are considered the body and blood of Christ. To Catholics, receiving communion is one of the faith’s most sacred rituals. Additionally, they were told that their marriage was a public scandal. Many people wonder why defending marriages and defending the family require different views regarding same-sex unions. In other words, how can a homosexual marriage affect a heterosexual marriage?Well, homosexuals unions often have a more direct impact on heterosexual marriages than we know. For instance, the Boston Globe reported June 29, 2003, that â€Å"nearly 40 percent† of the 5,700 homosexual couples who have entered into â€Å"civil unions† in Vermont â€Å"have had a previous heterosex ual marriage. † Children are the ones who suffer the most of homosexual unions because these children grow up without a mother and a father. These children are also products of heterosexual marriages that ended up in divorce or death. These children also face being ridiculed at school and among their peers.The question is will these children, after being exposed to homosexuality in the home, grow up to be gay, or does this help them to choose heterosexuality vs. homosexuality? How do the mothers of these children feel about their now gay ex-husband, having custody or visitation rights? Some would approve it, and some would not. In Toronto, June 30, 2006, (LifeSiteNews. com) – The mainstream media brought to life the phantom of the gay gene theory7 in covering a Canadian study on the origin of homosexuality. â€Å"Homosexuality influenced by biological factors, Canadian researcher says, â€Å"proclaimed the CBC, the first to break the story.This study was regarding sex ual orientation of men determined before birth. However, the study was most intriguing for what the mainstream media failed to cover. Namely that, if true, the study suggests that homosexuality is a congenital abnormality, and shares its origins with other disorders developed in the womb. (www. lifesite. net/ldn/2006/jun/06063003. html Westen, John Henry, 2006) Some researchers at Brock University in St. Catherine’s Ontario published a study in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences entitled â€Å"Biological versus non biological older brothers and men’s sexual orientation.The results of this study proved that same-sex sexual orientation is a result from having older brothers, even though the brothers may have not been raised together. To put it simpler, by way of explanation the researchers suggest that same sex relationships result from an immune reaction of the mother to the male child in her womb. â€Å"A theory of male homosexuality is consi stent with the present finding that maternal immune response to succeeding male pregnancies,† says the study.If in fact, this study is correct, then the link between the mother’s immune reaction and the child’s future sexual orientation would probably be some effect of maternal anti-male antibodies on the sexual differentiation of the brain. † Dr. John Shea, medical advisor to Campaign Life Coalition, explained to LifeSiteNews. com that the study explains the significance of its findings suggesting that â€Å"the immune response of the mother’s body, damages the sexual differentiation of the brain of the male child in the womb, thus producing an abnormality in the fetus.† In 1998, almost 3. 7 million Canadians were 65 years of age and older. Over the next fifteen years, this number is expected to grow to approximately 5. 9 million. However, it is impossible to tell how many lesbians and gay men live in Canada. However, the numbers of older gay adults are estimated between 296,000 and 370,000, and should incr4ase proportionately to the general older population of the country to between 471,000 and 590,000 people.(Newsletter of the centre for Applied Social research Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto, Vol. no. 2/Fall/Winter, 2002). Gerontological research has begun to look at the issues pertaining to gay and lesbian seniors only in the late 1970s, and most of these studies in the area have not succeeded in the experience of gay aging from the viewpoint of women, ethnocultural minorities, low-income individuals, and chose not actively involved in the gay and lesbian communities. (Ibid, 2002)In summary, if all studies conducted on whether or not gay marriage should be sanctioned y the church in regard to marriage, the evidence shows and proves that homosexual couples, male or female should not be sanctioned because of the following reasons: 1. An abomination in the eyesight of God 2. In these relationships, the ma rriage cannot be sanctioned because no union really took place. 3. Children, cannot be born of these marriages, unless they were brought in from a heterosexual marriage.One of the purposes of marriage is to have children. 4. Foster the bond between many women, and a list of other reasons mentioned above. References (www. nogaymarriage. com/gaymarriagequestions. html (Leviticus 20:13, King James Version of Holy Bible) (www. lifesite. net/ldn/2006/jun/06063003. html Westen, John Henry, 2006) (Newsletter of the centre for Applied Social research Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto, Vol. no. 2/Fall/Winter, 2002).