For over four hundred years, African Americans have faced discrimination in the United States, and it took them over ten years to find some sort of equality. Women have also been discriminated against for hundreds of years and it took them over fifty years to gain minimal rights. Even though the issue of homosexuality is relatively new in our country, the fight for rights began almost immediately and people still fight for civil liberties today, such as same-sex marriage. If no changes are made now, their fight for their rights could last even longer than what other minorities have endured. Since there is no national ruling abolishing same-sex marriage, each state sets its own laws regarding same-sex marriage. Currently in the United States, five states allow same-sex marriage, several states offer civil unions, and the vast majority of states prohibit same-sex marriage. Today, several groups, including conservatives and Christians, fight against same-sex marriage, citing Bible verses and their own personal beliefs as arguments. The gay community and many socially liberal Americans are coming together to fight back and fight back in the pursuit of equality. The United States should implement a national law allowing same-sex marriage for all same-sex couples because it would guarantee the natural rights of all Americans, establish and preserve equality among all citizens, and help end discrimination towards American homosexuals. allowing same-sex marriage means allowing marriage and certain rights to heterosexual couples and denying these rights to same-sex couples. In 1996, Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act which defined marriage as the legal union between one man and one woman (Wolfson). Couples involving a ...... middle of paper ......e, June 17, 2009. Web. May 29, 2010. .Stewart, Chuck. “Gay and Lesbian Rights: Perspectives.” Issues: understanding controversy and society. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. June 1, 2010. Stone, Geoffrey R. “Democracy, Religion, and Proposition 8.” The Huffington Post. November 15, 2008. The web. May 29, 2010. Wolfson, Evan. “Homosexuals should be allowed to marry.” Opposing points of view: homosexuality. Ed. Auriana Ojeda. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2004. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale of wind. Central Bucks South High School. June 1 2010 .