Speaking About Discrimination
I feel that same sex unions are provided the same benefits as "traditional" unions and I was just wondering what ideas did anyone have on this. I am doing a persuasive speech in favor of same-sex union, not because I agree with them, but because as a citizen of the United States "all men are created equal" in the eyes of the law. I see no difference in the denial of a same-sex union or the denial of a person to vote because of a different ethnicity.
My second question is: where would i find good solid information on same-sex unions that is CREDIBLE? I've looked and it's pretty much like banging my head against a concrete wall because I think there is yummy chocolate inside of it!
You can be more specific about the benefits that traditional union vs the same sex union receive. For example, healthcare benefits. Many employers do not provide health benefits for same sex unions. What affect does this have on their families? Also, I type in same sex union in the US and got some great information about your topic. Good luck
That's a great topic for a persuasive speech, but it's hard to answer your first question. It's a highly opinionated topic and any ideas we contribute are definitely going to be biased towards our own views.
There are many ways to approach this speech, but if you want it be most effective I recommend you focus your argument on what the supporter's views are. If I were doing the topic, I'd probably focus on some of the healthcare and insurance differences between heterosexual marriage and homosexual marriage. After demonstrating there is a real disadvantage for them, I'd start exploring the reasons why people want these restrictions put in place. I'd spend the majority of the speech framing the opponents arguments before moving into my counter-argument. I could even go on to mention the fact that using religion as a basis for removing a persons rights is nothing new, people used to use Canaan (Genesis 9:18, 25, 10:6) as a means to justify slavery. One could even go as far as to argue that these restrictions are nothing more than a rehash of all the hate laws our society has been plagued with throughout its past.
In regards to your second question, try searching for ".edu" and ".gov" when you are looking for sources. These sites are more likely to provide useful information and they are typically subject to peer-review in one form or another.
Another easy way to find some reliable sources is to search the citations of the wikipedia article on a similar topic. You can usually find links to useful articles which may support your topic, but be careful! Make sure the citations it linked you to are the original source and that it is a credible site.
wow, i really appreciate your input. As i am not in a same-sex union, i still feel that it is every American citizen's right to share in the exact same freedoms.
any other advice?
Yes, what you mentioned about quality sources with no chocolate inside them... There is a reason for using scholarly, peer-reviewed journals. Use Questia or Jstr or some other source of journal articles. See what people have most recently written? When you get familiar with following scholarly progress in one area or another... it is like an ongoing conversation. If you read a good article, it will have a little review of other literature that has been recently contributed -- like at the beginning of a TV program, when they show you what happened in last week's episode.
If you are going to write a persuasive speech, then presumably you will be less interested in what the different legal benefits of the two types of unions are and more in what they should be. So, your research should probably focus more on finding out why, given your excellent opening statement ("As a citizen of the United States who believes in dictum that "all men are created equal" in the eyes of the law, I see no difference in the denial of a same-sex union or the denial of a person to vote because of a different ethnicity."), so many people oppose same-sex unions. After all, you don't need to persuade people who already favor them, now do you? You need to persuade people who are opposed to them, and to do that, you need to know why they oppose them, so you can counter their arguments and respond to their objections. I'm sure you'll have no trouble finding sites that oppose same-sex unions online. Try to avoid the purely religious ones, though. You can't argue with "Because God said so," or persuade someone who's mind is closed to reason. Still, there are arguments out there meant to appeal to secular crowds, and those you will need to deal with, if you hope to make your speech effective.
