Across the country, a debate is taking place: Should gay marriage be allowed? I have a very simple answer: yes! The old definition of marriage no longer seems to apply in America, and has not for some time. To ban gay marriage is to openly proclaim that America, the land of the free, discriminates against people. In a country where more than 50 percent of marriages end in divorce, how can legislators say they are preserving the traditional definition when it only survives in less than half of American families? The truth is, they can't. Americans should not stand for such blatant deprivation of the pursuit of happiness. It is time to take a stand.

This may require you to step outside your moral comfort zone. I believe my opinion is just, no matter what my Cath-olic upbringing tells me I should believe. To allow our government to determine what sex must marry or can marry does not sit well with me.

The truth is simply that love and commitment are not under the control of our government. Government is there to make decisions which benefit the entire country, not just individual agendas. We need to take our morals out of secular decisions and make choices that give all a chance to be equal, free and protected by our country's laws.

Allowing gay marriage is fair to all involved. If we give homosexual couples the same rights as heterosexual couples, this does not mean our country is asking all the homophobic people to accept gays. Your beliefs are your own, and no law can change that, but depriving people of declaring their love legally should not, and cannot, be allowed.

Does America really want to suppress yet another group? Being fair is allowing our country to provide legal marriage rights to all couples, regardless of their sexual orientation. Again, we need to separate individual morals from decisions that affect all to make the right and fair decision.

There will be religious fundamentalists who proclaim homosexuality morally wrong. However, law is not something where morals should determine the outcome. Our laws are meant to be fair. The issue before us now is not to make the same mistake of past generations and believe that if an issue is ignored, it will disappear. Time and time again, the U.S has proven that thought does not work.

Make the right decision now and save future generations from fixing your mistakes. As they say, history should be learned from, not repeated. Save time, make the right decision now and allow all people to be happy and legally protected.

To put it simply, allowing gay marriage benefits all involved. It allows people of all races, genders and sexual preferences to make their own decisions involving marriage. It gives all the chance at happiness and the benefits marriage provides a couple. There is no downside to this proposal that cannot be argued as a benefit, or disproved.

Banning gay marriage is a dilemma for the U.S. but there is a very simple solution. Wake up, America, and realize that gay marriage must be allowed. The individual agendas and morals of our representatives cannot determine or deprive a person a chance at happiness. Make the right decision.