Social Control of Gay Marriage

Every country has social control; America just has a less "official" version of social control. While some countries have strict, government centered social control, America's social control is mainly done by the people. Social control is maintaining the actions of a society and the people within the society by applying negative sanctions to actions that fall outside of the social norm.

 Social control may be happening without people aware of it, and this is the case in America. People in America love the belief that they are free to choose the way the live their lives. But, if American's are free to make their own decisions, then why is it that gay people aren't free to marry the person they are in love with? From a sociological perspective, the negative sanctions applied to homosexuality prevent gay people from getting married. This causes marriage to be a socially controlled activity. In his article, Ultimate battle for gay marriage supporters: their fellow Americans, Jeff Amestoy agrees with this opinion. He says, "The public reaction to a federal judge's decision declaring California's prohibition of same-sex marriages unconstitutional has again demonstrated that Americans have deeply held and divergent views about gay marriage," (Amestoy 2010)

Do you think that social control is the main factor in the legalization of gay marriage? What other factors are influencing this legalization?

Sources:

Amestoy, J. (2010, August 9). Ultimate battle for gay marriage supporters: their fellow Americans.      Christian Science Monitor. p. N.PAG.