Can Your View on Gay Marriage Change?

        “How My View on Gay Marriage Changed” is an article written by David Blankenhorn of the New York Times in which he explains why his personal beliefs in regards to gay marriage has changed. Out of the three sources used in this synthesis, I find this source the most interesting because of all of the culture wars occurring in 2015, gay marriage is the hardest issue to sway someone’s belief and opinion of. Blankenhorn explains how at first, his argument against gay marriage was the children and the rights they had in regards to having/knowing their biological mother and father. This, he points out, was due to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of a Child in 1990 (Blankenhorn). After a while, Blankenhorn realized that his argument was really rooted behind anti-gay prejudices that he had. He also explains the need of Americans to accommodate to the idea of gay marriage in society, as more people, especially younger ones, are more accepting of the idea of gay marriage. Blankenhorn assures that legally recognizing gay and lesbian couples is an act of simple fairness in our country. 

       

Blankenhorn admits to using the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, stating that children have the right to receive care under the parents, which brought him into the world, in order to defend his stance against gay marriage (Blankenhorn). Although this event occurred in 1990, legislation like this throughout history has both caused turmoil and been used as a scapegoat for chaos. This chaos comes in the form of mainly Christians and anti-homosexual unions protesting and causing social unrest. 

        Blankenhorn’s change on his view of gay marriage proves that a change in perspective can translate into a peace of mind and open-mindedness. Bruni’s personal account of being scolded in public due to his sexual orientation can give us a situation to put ourselves in vicariously, which could result in a change in opinion. Bruni also presents poll results that expose the thoughts and feelings of Americans who oppose gay marriage.