BeIR/webis-touche2020 huggingface dataset:
Inadequacy of Alternative Categories

Opponents to same-sex marriage often point to similar institutions, such as civil unions or domestic partnerships, and claim that those should be satisfactory for same-sex couples who wish to receive some rights from the state when entering a marriage-like relationship. However, civil unions and domestic partnerships rarely have rights on par with marriage, and reinforce that same-sex couples are second class citizens. Civil unions are "neither universally recognized nor understood" [[http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/07/opinion/7thu3.html?pagewanted=print]] and though they offer some of the practical advantages of marriages, the fact that the unions of gay people must have a different name still segregates them socially and symbolically. In many countries, certain rights are tied to the recognition of marriage. Often, same-sex couples cannot sponsor foreign spouses for green cards [[http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-04-15/gay-lovers-in-exile/]]. In the U.S., they lose the tax benefit of marriage as a status when filing taxes and losing significant amounts of money each year, in effect being fined for having a same-sex partner rather than engaging in heterosexual marriage [[http://www.tressugar.com/2882164]]. Adoption and custody rights are often made more complicated by the restriction on same-sex marriage. While married couples can adopt and convey custody to their partner when they die, same-sex couples find this impossible in many countries, from Italy to Chile. Their children are removed from their homes because, since they are denied marriage rights, they have no legal guardianship. These deficiencies in the provision or rights to same-sex couples are only scratching the surface of what is denied to same-sex couples.
Rebuttal 1: In defence of public opinion

We note that opposition is employing the tactic of 'rebuttal by ridicule' rather than counter-argument. This threatens to be funny, but in the end simply leaves a substantive argument of ours wholly intact. [ See, again, 'Forcing change in liberal democracies is itself illiberal'. ] The opinion poll showing public views on the evolution/creationism stand-off does not speak to our substantive argument about the illiberal nature of forcing countries to adopt same-sex marriage in the face of public mores that runs deeply to the contrary. The principle that opposition defends is that the moral legitimacy of a legal system depends in part on taking seriously the moral preferences of its citizenry, hence our clash of moral and legal pluralism. Besides, the debate about evolution vs. creationism is disanalogous. Evidence in favour of evolution is an empirical matter, and the creationism claims, though partly principled, has to answer the empiricism of evoultion. The same-sex marriage debate is fundamentally a normative ethical one. It is not an 'empirical fact' that same-sex marriage is acceptable. Such an assumption, which seems to be the motivator for Team USA's 'rebuttal by ridicule', is circular. Our argument that law making should take seriously the moral preferences of those subjected to its laws, and social policies, stand. Moral and legal pluralism in relation to same-sex marriage, follows.
Rebuttal: More than gay rights

The argument is extremely relevant. Depending on the artificiality of how gender is determined at birth for intersex people, how they self-identify may not conform with how they were "gendered". For many of these people being asked to declare a gender so as to judge their qualification for a opposite gendered marriage is unfair. With the legalization of same sex marriage, gender is no longer an element in the marital equation, therefore sparing intersexed and transgendered individuals the trouble of choosing and declaring a gender to get married.
Importance of Government

It is interesting how little time proposition has committed to the question of Government obligation and democracy, because we feel that this is a crucial issue in this debate. The proposition has a very simple line on Governmental obligations - a Government should maximize equality at the cost of partisan groups' feelings. This is interesting not least because Governments, in all parts of the world, almost never behave this way (take redistributive programs for example - the equality of income is hardly tampered with by Government). One of the reasons they do not behave this way is that in democracies we do grant some value to the interests and opinions of the majority, even if we try to control the 'rabid-ness' of these interests and opinions. Similarly, we also try to make Governmental decisions that produce acceptable utilitarian outputs. If it is the case that the decision to legalize same-sex marriages is actually only margianally beneficial in a small number of cases but there are costs to the "homosexual equality" project as well as harms to social, cultural and religious groups, we wonder about the legitimacy of legalizing same sex marriage. Proposition's argument about the 'importance of government' does not present ANY evidence for the harms they claim gay persons routinely and widely suffer, like the claim that 'same-sex couples feel disenfranchised and less willing to participate socially' or the more hilarious suggestion that existential angst consume gay pesons who do not know how to 'explain their relationship' (try the commonly used hetero- and homo-sexual term 'partner'?). It is tempting to guess that these claims stem from a conservative, homophobic camp (no pun intended), not a liberal one! We would happily concede these harms if Team USA can produce solid evidence of gay persons hiding in their houses, or of would-be socialites unwillling to 'participate socially'. Or evidence of the apparently huuuuuuuge burden suffered around the dinner table when Jim declares that Tom is his 'life partner' rather than his 'husband'. For now, these harms are mere parternalistic - patronising, even - assertions on *behalf* of the gay community.
Outline of Opposition Clash: A defence of the status quo

Opposition's main contention is that a plurality of legal positions on same-sex marriage, among countries of the world, is acceptable. We will argue that such plurality reflects the legitimacy of each country's unique socio-legal and political processes that have resulted in a particular country's policy in relation to same-sex marriage. In other words, we do not deem the imposition of the analyses of proposition, on all governments of the world, acceptable. Two key positive arguments which we will develop in support of our contention are as follows: 1. Since the ethical status of homosexuality remains undecided it is acceptable to have different moral and, consequently, legal, attitudes towards same-sex marriage. It is incumbent upon the proposition to show us that the ethical status of homosexuality is such that we must derive the 'right' to same-sex marriage. 2. Even if we were to accept, for sake of argument, that it is a moral truism that homosexuality is acceptable, and same-sex marriage derivatively desirable, the end-goal of persuading those who do not believe these claims, and thereby improving the lot of gay persons, can be massively harmed by a blanket moral demand by the United Nations, or team USA, that same-sex marriage be legalised immediately. [ Of course, Team USA was unclear whether their case is purely normative - i.e. a wish that some universe one day be created in which same-sex marriage is legalised everywhere - or whether it is a more gutsy proposition that in *our* reality it is desirable, presently, for all (?) countries to legalise same-sex marriage. Their outline suggests a confusing attempt to cover all bases. Absent such clarity, opposition will reasonably intepret proposition to regard it desirable that tomorrow most countries grant same-sex couples the right to marry, and the rest take very meaningful steps towards doing so.] It follows from the outline of our clash that we are NOT going to argue that homosexuality is immoral. We also do not intend to argue that same-sex marriage is inherently undesirable. Our case is simply, in a sense, but critically so, a defence of legal and moral pluralism, and the importance of a gradual realisation of liberalism. We trust that this subtletly will not be mistranslated by Team USA.
Lack of legal category reinforces negative stereotypes

This argument is entirely unsubstantiated. It rests on two rather vacuous assumptions: First, that at present there exists a wide spread belief that homosexuals are hypersexual, infidelious and promiscuous, and second, that this is, in no small part, due to their not being able to marry. While we do concede that there are many negative attitudes towards homosexuals, we believe, as is reflected in our positive matter, that these attitudes relate far more to cultural, religious and social spheres (ie, 'gay people are simply wrong because God says so'), and not to stereotypes about 'how gays actually are'. The proposition presents no evidence for their first assumption other than an article in the guardian where two thirds of surveyed people believe that homosexuals should not be allowed to adopt children. But the very article they cite does not speak to the issues the proposition raises. The participants in the survey suggest that people believe homosexuals provide imbalanced parental role models and violate traditional family paradigms. As wrong as these opinions may be, they are a far cry from claims that homosexuals lure youths into homosexuality or participate in unsavoury sexual behaviour. Marriage will almost certainly not change the adoptions rights of couples, as the very article they cite suggests that there exists no current problem in relation to adoption agencies or legislation (outside of Catholic adoption agencies who, being private institutions, would not be compelled to change their position anyway). A failure to meaningfully change the already unproblematic status quo means this point is moot. The second assumption is that the alleged wide spread beliefs that homosexuals are hypersexual, infidelious and promiscuous have formed because they cannot marry. This is somewhat circular considering the proposition's earlier claim that people think "gays can't marry because they always fool around", and we find no compelling source for these opinions (the vicious cycle has to start somehow...) We contend that these opinions simply don't exist, and even if they did, would relate far more to hundreds of years of *active* discrimination (sending Oscar Wilde to jail for homosexuality) and social, cultural and religious 'norms' than to same-sex marriages.
Rebuttal: What's in a Word... Everything!!

So, proposition does agree, after all, that there really are no substantive legal differences between marriage and civil unions, and that the principle difference between the two is a set of cultural and religious beliefs and associations. We agree, firmly, that there are cultural and religious differences between civil unions and marriages. We disagree that these differences relate to 'levels of commitment' or 'strength of the family'. In fact, the principle difference in terms of association relates to religious and cultural values, whether or not people have been 'joined' in 'the eyes of God(s)'. This symbolic value is tremendous to a great number people, and it is a symbolic value that is attached to the entire institution of marriage, not just to specific cases of marriage. This opposition to same-sex marriage does not even have to be predicated on homophobia, but is often predicated simply on a resistance to altering religious and cultural conventions. The government is not condoning homophobia by respecting this cultural and religious preference. **** Furthermore, proposition's case is based on a popular liberal assumption that there is widespread DEMAND for same-sex marriage *within* the gay community. If this were true, why have the uptake of marriages in countries like Canada, Spain and South Africa been so poor? In places like Canada, moreover, there was very little support within the gay community itself [[http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/dec/07121708.html]] for same-sex marriage to be legalised in the first instance. What these trends speak to, is not just the reality that no harm is PERCEIVED/FELT by most gay persons themselves, in relation to exclusion from the regime of marriage ... but it all also inadvertently exposes the fact that the fight to legalise same-sex marriage stems often from a parternalistic liberal assumption, as is committed to by Team USA in the adjacent rebuttal, that gay persons must be feeling aggrieved on the matter, and surely have a deep desire for inclusion. On the contrary, many gay persons do not recognise the marriage symbolism that proposition is waxing lyrical about, let alone going on mass protests fighting for inclusion. So, given that the demand for same-sex marriage within the gay community itself is clearly elusive, and not widespread at all....the proposition's attempt to project a desire for inclusion onto the community, is based on crystall-ball gazing. We conclude the following, here: 1. The symbolism attaching to marriage is not proven by proposition to be one that is universally accepted; 2. Harm cannot be imputed to the gay community when they themselves do not express widespread desire for inclusion; 3) Team USA's fight to include gay persons in the marriage regime, despite the lack of demonstrable demand, exposes the real driver of this proposition - straight liberal paternalism
Importance of Government

Some arguments against gay marriage hold that they are merely unnecessary: same-sex couples can live as they please without social or legal recognition. But this argument inadequately addresses the social position of same-sex couples. The onus falls upon individuals to create situations of equality, but institutional barriers provided by the government discourage citizen action as it feels like an exercise in futility. The "you're on your own" attitude 1) makes gay unions seem like merely a sexual "choice", unwittingly supporting anti-gay propaganda that claims that homosexuality is "only a choice", 2) forces same-sex couples to constantly explain their relationship and makes it difficult for them to even refer to their relationship as a de facto marriage, because there is no cultural norm or reference for a same-sex marriage 3) makes same-sex couples feel disenfranchised and less willing to participate socially. The government displeases citizens whenever it grants rights to a group that is seen as an "other," but the discomfort of some citizens is not reason enough to deny people any of the rights of membership of a society.
Lack of legal category reinforces negative stereotypes

By denying LGBT couples the right to marry, the stigma of the unfaithful gay person is reinforced in a vicious cycle: "Gays can't marry because they always fool around, and because they always fool around, they shouldn't need marriage." This is despite much evidence (and common sense) to the contrary. [[http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/02/27/MNG1H59R5Q1.DTL]] [[Garnets, Linda D.; Douglas C. Kimmel (1993). Psychological Perspectives on Lesbian and Gay Male Experiences. Columbia University Press]] Much of the fervor against same-sex marriage relates to same-sex adoption. Stereotypes of gay people as influencing youth or recruiting them towards a gay lifestyle have long been part of the propaganda of the anti-gay movement. [[http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/nov/12/gay-adoption]] Marriage will ensure adoption rights for same-sex couples, and the myths will be debunked as the practice becomes more common. An excellent example is that of homosexuals serving in the military; where it was thought that homosexuals would not make good soldiers, today they serve with distinction in dozens of militaries across the world. Without the prospect of legal marriage, society also reentrenches itself in negative stereotypes of LGBT people as hypersexual, not interested in anything social that is not sexual. Marriage allows a couple that is sexually committed to have a social category that encompasses more than their sexual intimacy. LGBT indivuals are denied this right, and are forced to categorize their de facto spouse as a mere "partner". Marriage is important towards the ultimate goal of equality not merely because it bestows equal rights but because it forces traditional mindsets to reevaluate the nature of homosexual relationships.
Rebuttal 3: Homosexuality and moral agnosticism

Proposition wants to have their cake and eat it. They start off accepting that a plurality of moral views on homosexuality exist but then assert that homosexuality is acceptable. This assertion does not engage the pluralism they acknowledge, it simply by-passes it by fiat. Opposition is not arguing, as we had said before but which must have fallen on closed eyes, that homosexuality is immoral. We are agnostic on the issue because there is no moral objectivity that can settle the issue. Proposition has tried to make their case by framing it in terms of emotive human rights language. That is deceptive - clever, but worthy of the label deception. Of course there is a difference between what should be state-sanctioned, and what should be allowed to exist in private. Yes, in private, it is ok for someone to believe that twins should be killed but no state should sanction this view. In this kind of case, both teams would be happy, presumably, to endorse a disconnect between public policy and private belief. However, same-sex marriage, in the absence of more convinving normative analyses, does NOT constitute a matter on which moral truisms can be claimed by anyone. Just as it is extremely arrogant for some religious persons to claim that it is a moral 'fact' that homosexuality - and, so, same-sex marriage - is a moral sin, similarly, it is an exercise in arrogance by Team USA to implicitly assert that same-sex marriage is, as a matter of moral *obviousness*, acceptable, such that public policy must reflect this moral truism. Yes, related issues, such as the right to not be dismissed at work or ill-treated at work, on the basis of your orientation, constitute clear cases of human rights abuses. Same-sex marriage is not a human rights issue. In the case of abortion - which Team USA surely must accept as a good parallel for making sense of the relation between public mores and public policy, even if they do not like the twins example - we do not find it wrong that there is moral and legal pluralism in relation to the status of abortion rights. Yes, people passionately debate the issues around abortion, but REASONABLE [INTERNATIONAL] MORAL AND LEGAL DISAGREEMENT is accepted as inevitable and ok. Remember, this debate is not place-set in a particular country. This is why opposition need not, and did not, take a view on homosexuality's acceptability - or that of same-sex marriage - in that country. Proposition's case is set up as a desire for all countries to enact same-sex marriage laws. Hence, in opposition, as we have done here, and throughout our rebuttal and positive matter, we are articulating why a diversity of views between countries exist, will continue to do so, and why this is ok
Rebuttal: What's in a Word... Everything!!

The opposition continually states that there are other legitimate legal and social measures that can be given to same-sex couples that need not be called "marriage". We don't believe that legally identical civil union still equals a marriage. When you hear two people are married, there is certain socially conditioned imagery which comes to mind. Their level of commitment to one another, their love and respect, companionship, even married couple jokes. When you hear the that two people are each others legal partners, now what comes to mind? Oh they're gay. Nothing else. You don't picture them with children or a family. You don't think of their commitment to one another. You simply haven't grown up reading about or seeing 'civil partners' and lack a knowledgeable example to relate to. The images most ready-at-hand are stereotypical ones. The LGBT community is then given the burden of constructing a reference frame for this term used exclusively for them, and since most of their positive constructions will be ignored by those opposed to them, the reference frame will be constructed from a majority of negative stereotypes. Furthermore, if the opposition truly believes that marriage is 'just a word' then what is the harm in calling it marriage? If the reason we deny same-sex couples the symbolic importance of a marriage is because of majority homophobic sentiment, we are condoning the existence of those sentiments. While governments cannot make people not homophobic any more than they can make them not gay (as they attempt to do in Iran with forced sex-change operations), the resistance to allowing same-sex couples to marry is significant because the resistance is based upon non-existent, biased harms, that marriage will be defiled, that gays will hurt children, etc. Let's elaborate on this using an imaginative paradigm. If we lived in an majority anti-Semitic country that allowed Jewish couples the same formal rights in civil unions as in marriage, but did not allow Jewish unions to be called "marriages" on the basis that, in the majority view, their unions were somehow fundamentally different, it is not hard to see how this would be an anti-Semitic policy. If the government kowtows to the overweening bias of its citizens, it ultimately ends up supporting that bias, formalizing it, and giving it more power in society. The anti-Semites can then point to the legal statues and say, "See? Even here we see a difference between us and them, in the impartiality of the law." The difference lies in the fact that no one tries to go from a marriage to the a legally identical civil union, but selected individuals can be forcibly directed away from a marriage. The opposition mentioned that South Africa allows for both Civil Unions and Marriage, we'd like to ask them how many decide to go for this 'identical' civil union over the marriage.