While the definition of what marriage should be is different for individual people, most can agree that marriage should be about love.

On Oct. 11, protesters marched from the White House to the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., demanding their right to marry.

The movement to obtain marriage for gays and lesbians began in the 1970s, but it wasn’t until the ‘90s when the issue became prominent in politics. In 2003, Massachusetts was the first state to recognize same-sex marriage. Connecticut, Iowa and Vermont followed and New Hampshire will begin recognizing same-sex marriage at the beginning of 2010.

But this is only five out of the 50 states to fully recognize marriage for gays and lesbians. Kentucky voted and passed a bill in 2004 that bans same-sex marriage and civil unions, which makes it one of 19 states that bans both options for gays and lesbians.

But why is the government trying to prevent two people in love from sealing their union in marriage?

Marriage in the U.S. grants couples certain government benefits that people who can’t marry are denied, including Social Security, Medicare and medical leave. A marriage certificate also grants the spouse a guaranteed right to visit their significant other in the hospital, make medical decisions and be guaranteed custody of children.

It’s not about tax breaks and extra money; it’s about being able to share the same rights as other citizens.

Some argue that marriage is defined as a union between a man and a woman, and this definition should stay the same. But when has this country not evolved with the times?

If, as people of a democracy, we did not rewrite the laws in this country, women couldn’t vote, blacks would be lesser citizens and interracial couples would not be able to marry.

It wasn’t until 1967, a time of college students’ parents or grandparents, that it became fully legal in all 50 states for interracial couples to marry. Barack Obama, who was born in 1961 to a white mother and black father, had parents who weren’t allowed to marry in at least 17 of the 50 states until 1967.

Obama went on to become the 44th president of the U.S. Who will the children raised by this generation of oppressed citizens become?

This fight for equal rights isn’t just about a piece of paper or a religious ceremony. This fight shouldn’t be broken down into personal beliefs. It’s about denying a group of individuals basic rights based on a disagreement about who these people should love.

And at this time in our country, shouldn’t everyone have the right to love?