Homosexuals in America have been fighting for more civil rights for decades. Along with many other minorities, they have achieved many impressive mile stones. Allowing gay marriage in America will benefit the country in many different ways. Not legalizing gay marriage is a violation of gay American's civil rights according to the declaration of independence. There are many economic benefits as a result of legalizing same sex marriage. Allowing homosexuals to wed will improve the overall health of America. Also, American's views of homosexuals have been becoming more positive recently. Opposition to gay marriage mainly comes from the Bible, but experts have shown some of the Bible's passages to be flawed and outdated. Even with this large opposition from the church, the idea of marriage has been drastically changing since colonial times. Being gay is an act of nature rather than a choice. Many homosexual Americans strive to be joined in the union of marriage for a variety of reasons; although it is currently illegal in all but six states, gay marriage should be legalized nationwide. Gay marriage would greatly benefit the economy. Weddings create a great amount of revenue for our country. Marriage licenses are required to be legally married; the price for a marriage license varies between fifteen and ninety dollars. Also, with marriage comes divorce, and divorce has its own cost. Thomas Kostigen, economist and investment advisor, points out that if you get divorced you will need to hire a lawyer; paying for a lawyer will further stimulate the economy. Kostigen adds that on average, weddings are a seventy billion dollar a year business. A lot goes into planning for a wedding, wedding planners, flowers, entertainment, clothing rental, bridal showers, bachelor parties, food, venues, and invitations. All of these different costs will benefit the economy in different fields. All of these different types of businesses will greatly appreciate the business. Michael Bloomberg, mayor of New York, informed the city of New York that the city gained 259 million dollars from gay marriages. Over ten percent of the marriage licenses issued were issued to gay couples. Although allowing gay marriage will increase the amount of social security the government would have to pay; the increase in weddings will counteract this cost to the country by providing a stimulus to the economy in the stated fields. There are many benefits to the overall health of the country that will be made by legalizing gay marriage. According to Elizabeth Gilbert, who has studied marriage for several years, married men and women are far more likely to only have one sexual partner for their lifetime. Thus, the overall flow of sexually transmitted infections would decrease. Sexually transmitted infections, if left untreated, can sometimes lead to death. Gilbert also reports, that married men live longer than single men, accumulate more wealth than single men, are far less likely to die a violent death than single men, suffer less from alcoholism, drug addiction, and depression, and consider themselves far happier than single men. Having a partner greatly reduces the likelihood of dangerous behaviors. If you have a family to provide for, you feel an extra responsibility to keep yourself safe, and happy, as well as your family safe and happy. Gay Americans should be allowed to reap these benefits of marriage. The way society views the gay community has been progressively changing as time has gone on. In the past, homosexuals were viewed as people who were against God, and who were morally defective. Since then, our country has undergone several changes involving the civil rights of minorities. In one of her most recent books, Elizabeth Gilbert writes: "Nor is it hard to see why gay people want the right to be wed, it is a statement of acceptance for people who, until recently, were considered morally defective.  Not allowing gay marriage infringes upon the rig