Ethos, Pathos, and Logos of Gay Rights in America

I have decided to write my paper about equal rights for gay Americans pertaining to marriage and the right to have a family no matter what a person's sexual orientation. I believe that I will be able to balance pathos, ethos, and logos with this topic.

There is a huge amount of emotional appeal, or pathos, to speak about this topic because it is something that any American has heard about on several occasions and also more than likely has someone in their life who is directly affected by the current laws in most states. Homosexual Americans do not currently have the right to be married in any state in the country and if they do get married in a state that allows same sex marriage, they will not be recognized as such in their own state or other states that do not allow same sex marriage. I believe that there is a vast majority of people in this country who feel this is wrong and are angry and saddened by this. Not only saddened and angered by the fact that gay American's can't be married, but also by the fact that it is harder to raise a child in a family with gay parents because of the ridicule that the child will have to go through because society has made it seem that being gay is a choice and that it is "wrong."

There is also a great amount of credibility, or ethos, which comes along with this topic. There are many criminal cases that have been overturned due to an arrest being unconstitutional pertaining to homosexual acts. There also seems to be a vast amount of straight people who support the equal rights of gay people because they feel there is an inequality. There are studies and books about how gay marriage should be legalized nationwide and why it is not already. There are many published sources speaking about how a child growing up in a home with gay parents can actually be beneficial for a child, no matter the child's sexual orientation.

The last piece of the puzzle would be the logic, or logos, that is involved with this topic. It seems logical to debate this topic because we live in a country where we are supposed to be a melting pot of all kinds of people from all kinds of places and with all kinds of backgrounds. This country is supposed to be "the land of the free, home of the brave," yet if you want to be brave and share with your loved ones that you are gay, and you would like to have this recognized with the institution of marriage, you are not allowed to in most places in the United States. The majority of straight marriages end in divorce and a huge amount of those involve children so why would it be up to the state or the country to decide that a gay couple wouldn't be fit to raise a family?

I think that I have a good start to my paper about gay rights and I feel that it will appeal to all three parts of an argumentive paper.