Same-sex marriage has become a national issue. In 2003, the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples had the right to marry, prompting a fiery debate. The discussion extends from private living rooms to public places; up to the United States Congress and the White House. The debate over same-sex marriage has become a hot-button issue, pitting secular progressives who support gay rights against religious and social traditionalists who fight for the sanctity of marriage. When Shawn Barber, Anna Quindlen, Andrew Sullivan and the editors of The National Review wrote their opinion pieces on the topic of same-sex marriage, the debate had already been raging for many years and continues to this day. Freelance writer La Shawn Barber and the editors of National Review oppose same-sex marriage and argue that legalizing same-sex marriage would radically redefine marriage and weaken it as a social institution. In contrast, Newsweek magazine editor Anna Quindlen and “The Daily Dish” blogger Andrew Sullivan support same-sex marriage and stress that same-sex couples should not be treated differently from heterosexual couples, even when they deals with the right to marry. In “The Loving Decision,” Quindlen uses the example of the landmark court case Loving v. Virginia, who legalized interracial marriage, to argue that homosexuals should be allowed to marry whoever they want. Quindlen argues that Loving v. Virginia is applicable to the modern fight over same-sex marriage because it is an issue of civil rights violations, just like the original 1968 case. In contrast, Barber, counters in “Interracial Marriage: Slippery Slo… ...middle of paper......Department of Public Health. Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. November 18, 2003. Print.Quindlen, Anna. "The decision of love." The daily beast. Newsweek/Daily Beast, November 14, 2008. Web. March 28, 2015. .Sullivan, Andrew. "The Right's Contempt for Gay Lives." The Atlantic. 8 April 2009. Web. 28 March 2015..Vamburkar, Meenal. “Coulter To Hannity: Liberals Use Judicial Activism to Invent Rights™ Like Abortion and Gay Marriage.” Coulter To Hannity: Liberals use judicial activism to invent rights like abortion and gay marriage. April 5, 2012. Web. March 28 2015..