Same sex marriage being legalized.

I would like to open by thanking my opponent for the chance to debate! "If humans were meant to marry their same sex, there would be a way for them to reproduce without using the other sex. If gay people are married, it is impossible for them to actually create children. Soon, the overall population would decrease, making America less influential and prosperous. Also, it is psychologically proven that a child needs both a mother and a father to be psychologically unscathed. Also, it's not about the bible, it's about the lives of both gay couples and children of future generations. Many researchers have proven that gay couples have higher risk of physical and mental diseases."There are ways for homosexuals to reproduce without using the other sex, as my opponent puts it. This is the purpose of artificial insemination. Additionally, the purpose of marriage is not reproduction. If it were, why would people allow infertile, sterile, and elderly couples to marry? Why would people allow a man and woman who don't want children to marry? My opponent's claim regarding the population decrease is unfounded. First of all, overpopulation remains a huge issue in the world today [1]. Secondly, even if gay marriage is illegal, the population is hardly going to increase. A gay male is not going to magically be attracted to a woman just because gay marriage is illegal, and neither will a lesbian suddenly marry a man. Although a few homosexuals might get married to someone of the opposite sex, the vast majority will simply go unmarried. The legalisation of gay marriage thus does not affect the population in any significant way. My opponent's argument that a child needs a mother and a father in order to avoid psychological damage is also unfounded. First of all, this debate is about gay marriage, not gay adoption. My opponent's argument does not relate to the resolution. Secondly. there are numerous studies arguing that gay parents are just as capable of raising a child as straight parents [2,3]. These discredit my opponent's assertion. Lastly, if my opponent is going to claim that research has proven gay couples have higher risks of physical and mental diseases, I ask that he provide some evidence to support this. If my opponent is referring to AIDS, I point out that lesbian couples have the lowest risk of AIDS infection out of both gay men and heterosexuals [4] (page 3). "Homosexuality will not affect your daily life in any way. We live in a free country. If a person has the freedom of religion and speech, among other rights, why can't they have the freedom to marry who they choose? Legalizing same-sex marriage communicates to millions of people across the country that gay relationships are of equal value to straight relationships, thereby helping to reduce intergroup prejudice and supporting cultural diversity. The number of child adoptions should increase since gay couples cannot pro-create and most childres will have a place they can call home."All of this supports my position, and I am not sure why my opponent wrote any of it. Not one thing in the above paragraph supports my opponent's argument. "The gay lifestyle is not something to be encouraged, as a lot of research shows it leads to a much lower life expectancy, psychological disorders, and other problems. Also It confuses children about gender roles and expectations of society. They will think its something acceptable and follow in there foot steps and slowly the United States population will go down." Again, I challenge my opponent to provide evidence for his claims that being gay leads to the problems he claims. Additionally, why is it not acceptable to be gay? Being gay is not a choice, so children cannot really follow in any footsteps to become gay. Legalising gay marriage, on the other hand, will help gay and lesbian individuals feel accepted and loved, and this in turn will combat the real issue of many homosexuals committing suicide. Suicide within the LGBT community is a very real problem [5], and much of it is motivated by discrimination, intolerance, and hatred aimed at the LGBT community. Helping these individuals to feel accepted and loved can hardly be called a bad thing. I look forward to my opponent's response! [1] http://www.huffingtonpost.com...[2] http://www.livescience.com...; [3] http://www.bu.edu...;[4] http://www.gmhc.org...[5] http://www.suicidology.org...