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.

同性恋婚姻最近在新闻中引起了激烈的争论。各种形式的同性恋婚姻在许多国家都有案可查，而最近，荷兰成为第一个赋予同性伴侣与异性恋夫妇同等法定权利的国家。这项突破传统的变革并不令人惊讶，因为荷兰很久以来就是处理有争议性社会问题的先锋，如毒品与安乐死等等。

站在这个运动前沿的另一个国家是丹麦，早在1989年同性恋婚姻的这种形式在该国就已经取得合法地位。在通过该法规之前，多数丹麦神职人员反对此法规。1995年，在看到同性恋婚姻的正面影响后，多数神职人员改变立场转而支持。虽说许多人仍以宗教原因反对男性同性恋婚姻，其他人则指出，即使是奴隶制度，圣经也给予宽恕包容。他们将同性恋婚姻视为一般公民权利议题。

婚姻在情感上的好处可能是很明显的，但是同性恋仍然无法享受其他权利，如医疗与死亡津贴，以及在配偶遇到急难、病危或死亡时代行决定的权利。随着同性恋婚姻在各地已成为现实，越来越多的人开始正视这个问题。究竟男性同性恋婚姻是异端邪说，还是应该受到法律保护并成为世人认同的社会典章制度，就要等时间来证明了。