Gay Marriage Should be Legal

Thank you Mr. Infidel for this debate. What is Marriage, why does the state honor Marriage, and who has to supply the BoP. (Burden of Proof)Considering the nature of this debate, I will use a rather ambiguous definition of Marriage. Marriage - A relationship between married people or the period for which it lasts. (1)Because the state recognizes marriage, we can assume there is both a beneficial reason and social effect behind that recognition. But what could be the beneficial reason? The two most likely reasons would be the following: [] The state sees a special value within Marriage [] or they are honoring the tradition of Jewish, Christian, and/or Islamic religious traditions.If we assume the latter, the state is in direct violation of the 1st Amendment. (2) Even if we let that slide, the nature of those religions would inherently dismiss the possibility of Gay Marriage. So this conclusion is rather unlikely.So then we must assume the former; the state recognizes a special value within Marriage. What is this special value? Most likely, the special value is the natural, procreative acts that take place in a stable heterosexual marriage that keeps a society alive. If no children are created or raised, within 100 years that entire society will cease to exist. However, if we apply this to any other type of relationship that is not procreative, the state loses its incentive to sponser the Marriage.Unless my opponent disagrees with my inital statements regarding marriage, the Burden of Proof is now on my opponent entirely to display what other distinctively beneficial reason the state has for recognizing a homosexual marriage. Mr. Infidel has provided a few arguments of that nature, which I will now rebute.C1 Sub: HarmThis argument largely depends on the provided definition of harm. Does it physically harm anyone? Due to the nature of sodomy, both consenting partners are physically harmed during sexual interactions in a homosexual relationship. Does it emotionally harm anyone? By legalizing gay marriage the whole Christian community in America, amung other religious communities, would be distraught. So yes, state support of Gay marriage would cause harm.C1 Sub: Who do we allow to marry? (Pimps, drug dealers, arsonists, etc.)A person's history and ability are incredibly less obvious than his/her sexual orientation when applying for a marriage licencse. To examine each couple, heterosexual or homosexual, for defects such as infertility or a history of violence would be both dehumanizing and expensive. In the current system the benefits of recognized, generally-good marriages exceedingly outweigh the disadvantages of a handful of poor marriages. In other words, the state can only practically recognize marriage by the type of acts that come with marriage, such as child rearing and raising; rather than the actual, varying effects that come with any-given marriage. Even if we allow same sex marriage, pimps, pedophiles, arsonists, etc will still be able to get married.C2 Sub: Denies marrying any desired person ("They deny gay men and women the ability to marry the person of their choice")No man can marry another man, nor woman a woman, regardless of his/her sexual orientation. Equal protection under the laws exists, so this point is irrelevant.C2 Sub: Singles out suspect class ("They single out and harm a suspect class by preventing them from marrying")No man can marry another man, nor woman a woman, regardless of his/her sexual orientation. Unless my opponent can prove there is something innately different between homosexual men and women and heterosexual men and women, such as there is with African-Americans and Caucasions, no single suspect class is being singled out or harmed.C2 Sub: 1,000 rights denied ("There are over 1,000 rights they are denied simply because they cannot marry")No man can marry another man, nor woman a woman, regardless of his/her sexual orientation. They can marry anyone they like, so as long as they are a member of the opposite sex so procreative in type actions may take place. Therefore, no rights are being denied to a select group.C3 Sub: $17 billion in national revenue Even if recognizing Gay Marriage called for $30 billion in revenue, it would still absolutely pervert the reason why the state honors marriage. Speaking economically, what is to stop me from going off and marrying my best friend and recieve all of the benefits marriage entails, like "joint tax filing, tax exemptions, social security benefits, insurance benefits, and hospital visitation privileges"? (3) Even so, if the state should dismiss the initial reason to recognize any law, whats stopping the government from legalizing contract killing, sale of any and all drugs, or prostitution? Surely these would generate some form of public renevue.C3 Sub: Adoption of Orphans One study has suggested that father abscence causes girls to experiment sexually earlier, leading to more teen pregnancies. (4) Another study suggests homosexually raised children are more inclined to become homosexuals or bisexuals. (5) Regardless of the status of children raised in homosexual households, this is more of an argument for legalizing first, joint, and second-parent adoptions in the U.S. than an argument for Gay Marriage. Marriage is not required to adopt (except in Arkansas, which forbids any unmarried couples from adopting children) (6)ConclusionI fail to see any terribly convincing arguments my opponent may have provided. If he has provided any, I am sure he will reiterate them in the later rounds where I will further rebute them. But in the meantime, I rest on my resolution that honoring Gay Marriage would remove the purpose of any state honored marriage.I thank my oponent for his wonderful openning round!_________________________________________________1. http://www.google.com...;2. http://www.usconstitution.net...;3. According to one study, there are more than 1,000 rights and privileges associated with marriage. See “Achieving FullEquality: 2007 Gill Foundation Annual Report” http://gillannualreport.org...4. http://gaymarriage.procon.org...5. http://gaymarriage.procon.org...6. http://gaylife.about.com...