For many people, marriage is simple - meet someone, fall in love, have a wedding, start a family.
However, in most countries, gay people do not have this right.
Studies show that around 10% of the world population are either gay or bisexual. This means around 10% of people may wish to get married to someone of the same gender, yet they might not have the legal permission to do so.
Two people who love each other cannot be united by law due to someone else's beliefs and theories.
Should we not be trying to provide equality for people instead of providing a different set of rules for people with a different sexual orientation?Both gay marriage and civil unions are illegal in most states of America.
In fact, there are only 12 states which permit same-sex marriage.
Out of the 196 countries in the world, only 14 of these enable homosexual people to get married by law.
These countries include Brazil, Canada and, more recently, New Zealand.
These numbers are much too low for a world that strives for diversity and equality.
Common in the southern states of America in the 1800s were the Jim Crow laws.
These saw segregation of the white people and the black people, where the black people were made to feel inferior to the white race.
We look back on this as a negative period in history.
When segregation ended, black people had more rights.
The same thing is happening internationally today, except people are being judged on their gender preference instead of their skin colour.
Why can we not learn from the positive response from racial equality and offer equal marriage rights for all?After all, marriage should be between love and love.
• By Jaimee Murdoch, Year 11, Taieri College
