Introduction to Our Argument

Our Goal is to make a compelling, secular, argument for the allowance and tolerance of same sex marriages. Although a large part of the arguments are taking place in terms of religion and The Bible, we are trying to get behind the true political reasoning as to why banning same sex marriage is wrong. The battle can not be won on the religious field, but politically it is hard to argue that separating someone based on sexual preference from a now political institution (marriage), is wrong. Obviously marriage is not all politics, but it does allow for certain perks, that can not be denied to someone just because they have chosen a partner of the same sex. That being said, the first article I looked at was from NoGayMarriage.com, which gives a list of reasons why allowing gay marriage will ruin society. There is a lot of religious talk that I will try and ignore, but there was some social commentary that we find misleading. He discussed that allowing gay marriage will result in a loss of preference for heterosexual couple in adoption. This doesn’t actually seem like an issue, because why should a good family looking to adopt be denied simply based off their sexual preference? There is no reason to give special preference to a family, just because they have a “traditional marriage”. The main deciding factor should be that the baby goes to a good home. Also the author fears that children will be exposed to homosexual characters in their children stories, which could confuse them sexually. While the debate about homosexuality being “a choice” has yet to be determined, exposing children to homosexuality isn’t a bad idea. Would a child not be more confused if it grew up without being exposed to homosexuality and then encountered it in their teens (the primary age for development in sexuality)? If you expose children to things earlier on, then they will be better suited to confront and formulate their own opinions on the topic. This will not promote our kids growing up “gay”, but growing up tolerant, and as a result, better people. The final point I wish to address is the argument that allowing same sex marriage will result in so many divorces that the institution will be diluted into little more than a form of identification, like a driver’s license. This is a clear over-exaggeration, but his point is made; homosexual marriages do have a higher divorce rate. The real argument is, what does that have to do with heterosexual marriage? Just because homosexuals can marry and, as a result, divorce that does not mean that heterosexual marriages will have to follow in the same footsteps. If a heterosexual man leaves his wife to marry a man, which would be legal in this scenario, then that man was never truly heterosexual. The point is that its not going to “turn people gay” it will simply allow for equal marital status.

-Source Used- http://www.nogaymarriage.com/tenarguments.asp