Why Should the Topic of Same-sex Marriage be Discussed in the Classroom?

Our modern society is open to democratization and liberalization. Such topics as same-sex marriage or drug legalization are not banned any more and people can talk freely and express their opinion. During the school year the system of basic beliefs is formed and school has an extremely important influence in the formation of these beliefs. That is why children should be taught about same-sex marriages. Information about same-sex marriages can teach children tolerance and respect to other people, who have other sexual orientation, other moral values and other religion beliefs. Children and teenagers who grow at the age of globalization and informational boom perceive new information very quickly and it is impossible to skip the theme of same-sex marriage. That is why this topic should be discussed at schools. Teachers and parents can not guarantee that their children will hear wrong information about same-sex marriages somewhere else and drop wrong conclusions. Paul Ash, superintendent of schools in Lexington, has perfectly expressed the shift of the situation: “It certainly strengthens the argument that we need to teach about gay marriage because it's more of a reality for our kids. The children see married, gay couples." (Lindsay) Homosexual relations is something children meet in everyday life and their parents and friends may not be able to give them irrefragable answers to all their questions. Modern schools possess all necessary means and must help children find the answers to all their questions.
Studying same-sex marriage has a lot of reasons. First of all students get an opportunity to understand the nature of relationship between people. They will get a better understanding of the marriage institution in general and specific laws, which regulate it. Information about same-sex marriage will develop tolerance to other moral, cultural and religious beliefs. Students will be able to understand difficult interaction of law and morality concerning this complicated issue. The topic about same-sex marriages can give students a better understanding of their own sexuality and form the right attitude to the sexuality of those, who differ from them.
There are a lot of gossips and interpretations about the same-sex marriages. One of the arguments of those, who stand against them is that homosexual marriages contradict the tradition. The idea of homosexual marriages threats the very idea of the sanctity of the marriage. The term "marriage" should refer to a loving relationship between man and woman. The institution of marriage considers the union of two adults of different sex living together. For centuries the marriage was considered just between the people of the opposite sex and by now the marriage of the people of the same sex can be wrong on an evolutionary scale (Coolidge, 1997). The situation has changes and basic rights and liberties of the citizens guarantied by the Constitution of many countries let people of the same sex add judicial value to their relations and society can not oppose to this wish. “Students should understand both the historical parallels to marriage prohibitions against same-sex couples as well as the similarities among racism, homophobia and all other oppressions.” (GLSEN, p. 7)
The main goal of the society should be developing tolerance among people and including information about same-sex marriages in the school curriculum could be very important in the development of this tolerance. Unfortunately, there are only very few states, which bother with teaching sexual orientation. “Just 10 states have laws that deal with teaching sexual orientation, two of which require some teaching of it and eight of which put restrictions on how it's presented, according to New York-based SIECUS.” (GLSEN, 12)
We should also take into account the percentage of students, who have homosexual orientation. Courses or lectures about same-sex marriages would have helped them to come in terms with their sexuality and prevent them from feeling abnormal or perverted. It’s evident that same-sex marriages or relations shouldn’t be advertised and students should be acquainted with both sides of the problem. Children should be taught not only facts, which justify same-sex marriages. They should be provided with all necessary information in order to be able to drop their own conclusions.
Same sex marriage is a topic nobody can escape nowadays and students, who are extremely influenced by any kind of information they hear, should perceive basic information about the same-sex marriage at school in order to avoid misinterpretations and mistakes. Open dialog about different types of sexuality is important not only for physiological development and physical state of the students. It can also have a positive influence on their civil position because knowledge about same-sex marriages can help to understand basic rights and freedoms of sexual minorities and teach to respect them.