Gay marriage has been hotly debated in the news lately. While several countries have some form of gay marriage on the books, the Netherlands recently became the first country to give same-sex couples in civil unions the same rights as heterosexual married couples. This break with convention is not surprising since the Netherlands has been a pioneer in dealing with controversial social issues like drug use and euthanasia．

Another country at the forefront of this movement is Denmark, where a form of gay marriage has been legal since 1989. Prior to the law's enactment, most of the Danish clergy opposed it. In 1995, after seeing the positive effects of gay marriage, most of the clergy shifted their opinions to support it. While many people still oppose gay marriage on religious grounds, others point out that the Bible also condoned slavery. They see gay marriage as a civil rights issue.

The emotional benefits of marriage may be obvious, but other rights gays are denied include medical and death benefits, and the right to make decisions on behalf of their partners in cases of emergency, illness, or death. With gay marriage becoming a reality in some places, more people are beginning to sit up and take notice. Only time will tell if it will remain a marginalized, heretical idea or become an established and accepted institution in societies around the world.

同性戀婚姻最近在新聞中引起了激烈的爭論。各種形式的同性戀婚姻在許多國家都有案可查，而最近，荷蘭成為第一個賦予同性伴侶與異性戀夫婦同等法定權利的國家。這項突破傳統的變革并不令人驚訝，因為荷蘭很久以來就是處理有爭議性社會問題的先鋒，如毒品與安樂死等等。

站在這個運動前沿的另一個國家是丹麥，早在1989年同性戀婚姻的這種形式在該國就已經取得合法地位。在通過該法規之前，多數丹麥神職人員反對此法規。1995年，在看到同性戀婚姻的正面影響后，多數神職人員改變立場轉而支持。雖說許多人仍以宗教原因反對男性同性戀婚姻，其他人則指出，即使是奴隸制度，圣經也給予寬恕包容。他們將同性戀婚姻視為一般公民權利議題。

婚姻在情感上的好處可能是很明顯的，但是同性戀仍然無法享受其他權利，如醫療與死亡津貼，以及在配偶遇到急難、病危或死亡時代行決定的權利。隨著同性戀婚姻在各地已成為現實，越來越多的人開始正視這個問題。究竟男性同性戀婚姻是異端邪說，還是應該受到法律保護并成為世人認同的社會典章制度，就要等時間來證明了。