The United States Supreme Court recently ruled that the Constitution guarantees the right to same-sex marriage. As of January 2014, only seventeen US states had legalized gay marriage, allowing same-sex couples to marry. The other 33 states have constitutional amendments that deny same-sex couples the freedom to marry (Where State Laws). Gale states that same-sex relationships and even gay marriage have existed since the beginning of recorded history. However, in 1970, when gay couples who wanted marriage licenses were denied, the fight for equal rights (Gay Marriage) exploded. The topic of legalizing gay marriage offers much debate, with positive aspects such as the United States benefiting greatly from it, the fact that it does not ruin the sanctity of marriage and granting homosexuals the same rights as heterosexuals, and negative aspects such as opposition to popular religious views, change the Orthodox definition of marriage, and gay marriage harms our children. Legalizing same-sex marriage, when often contested, is said to benefit the United States in many ways. It has been recorded that by allowing same-sex couples to marry, the state receives an economic boost. New York, for example, received $259 million into its economy after allowing same-sex couples to marry. The legalization of gay marriage also promotes a state of well-being among LGBT people (7 Ways Murray). The federal government, for example, has previously denied more than 1,000 benefits to legally married couples. This is because the DOMA Act (Defense of Marriage Act) defines marriage as the union between a woman and a man. However, this section of the law was recently found to be unconstitutional. This means that legally married same-sex couples in the state...... half of document...... frc.org Family Research Council2004 Web. February 18, 2014“Gay Marriage.” Gale Student Resources in Context. Detroit: Gale, 2012. Student Resources in Context. Network. 6 February 2014. "History and debate on gay marriage" Debate.org np 2012. Web. 4 February 14“Just-The-Facts” Whymarriagematter.org Why marriage matters. N.d. Web. 4 February 14 Khan, Zafar “Islamic Views on Homosexuality” Islamicawareness.net np n.d. Web. February 14, 2014Lipp, Murray “7 Ways the US Benefits from Legalizing Gay Marriage” Huffingtonpost.com Huffington Post 2 June 2013 Web February 6, 2014Lipp, Murray “Top 10 Arguments Against Gay Marriage” Huffingtonpost.com Huffington Post May 28, 2013 Web February 16, 2014 Smith, Michal “Same-sex marriage is bad for society” Dailyherald.com Daily Herald February 21, 2014 Web February 9, 2014 “Where the State Laws Are” Freedomtomarry.org Freedom to Marry I