Gay Marriage should be Illegal

I have debated gay marriage before but I don't debate it very often. I look forward to a stimulating debate. -Opening argument-Gay marriage is a topic that many people get fired up about, and it's not usually an issue where someone falls right in the middle. Either you're for it or against it. Our government passed the Defense of Marriage Act, which states that marriage is between one man and one woman. If my opponent disagrees with this definition of marriage, then he bears the burden of proof to show why this should be changed. Gay marriage is not recognized on a federal level, and no state in our nation is required to honor or recognize gay marriage. Let me first be clear that I have nothing against homosexuals as people. I believe they should be treated fairly and given the same respect as we do. They have the same right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as any other person. I contend that giving homosexuals the right to marry is not about equal rights: it is about giving them special privileges. No one in the United States can just marry anyone they want. If I fall in love with my cousin, I am not allowed to marry her because there are laws against incest. There are laws against bestiality, polygamy, and pedophilia. We cannot just marry anyone we want. I am not allowed to marry a member of the same sex. Homosexuals are allowed to marry, just not people of the same sex. They have the same right to marry that I and other heterosexuals do. Homosexuality also goes against nature. A man cannot procreate with another man, and a woman cannot procreate with another woman. They cannot raise a biological family together. In order for our species to continue, we must conceive children to replace the elderly who are dying off. Homosexual unions do not allow this to happen. I will now respond to my opponent's contentions:Contention 1) Freedom is our default"We could make lots of things illegal, like for instance the wearing of red hats. But we don't do so, because we operate on the axiom that all things being equal freedom should reign. I doubt that Pro will object to this. "I agree, only to a certain extant. We have never enjoyed absolute freedom in this country. For instance, a lot of things are illegal. We cannot murder, we cannot steal, we cannot cheat on our taxes, etc. Even though we have freedom of speech, we cannot yell fire in a crowded place without cause, and we cannot make threats against our president. We also cannot marry whomever we want, whether a relative, minor, animal, or member of the same gender. Wearing a red hat is not comparable to gay marriage. There is nothing moral or immoral about wearing a hat or wearing the color red. However, homosexuality is a moral issue. We don't see anyone trying to make the wearing of red hats illegal. Also, there may be times when wearing a red hat is not allowed. For instance, some schools don't allow certain colors to be worn because they are the colors worn by a local gang. We Americans have an adage, "it's a free country. " While we may be free here, we do not enjoy absolute freedom. Contention 2) You need a good reason to make something illegalThis isn't necessarily true. We have good reason to make smoking illegal, yet it still remains legal. Alcohol is legal, yet marijuana is not. We have good reason to make alcohol illegal (we tried it once and obviously failed). However, I don't see any reason to keep marijuana illegal as long as alcohol is legal. Aside from that, I have also shown reasons that I believe are good to keep gay marriage illegal. Also, if you're going to support gay marriage, there is no reason why you shouldn't also support polygamy, pedophilia, incest, or bestiality. All of the reasons I've seen so far to support gay marriage can also be used to support those forms of sexual perversion. Conclusion: Gay marriage goes against nature. It is about giving homosexuals special privileges, not about giving them "equal rights," because they already have equal rights with heterosexual. The resolution is affirmed. I look forward to my opponent's rebuttal.