Same-sex marriage (also called gay marriage) is a legally or socially recognized marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Same-sex marriage is a civil rights, political, social, moral, and/or religious issue in many western nations. The conflict arises from the term "marriage" being used to include same-sex relationships as well as an often-overlapping government- endorsed civil status with legal benefits. Support for same- sex marriage is often based upon what is regarded as a universal human rights issue, equality before the law, and the goal of normalizing LGBT relationships. Opposition to same-sex marriage is often based upon the inclusion of same- sex couples in the word marriage. Other reasons may include direct and indirect social consequences of same-sex marriages, parenting concerns, freedom of religion concerns, religious grounds, or tradition. Many supporters of same-sex marriage attribute opposition to it as coming from homophobia.