Resolved: Homosexuals should be permitted to marry

I can't believe how easy my opponent has made this for me, all that work and rhetoric about sickle cell for nought. For the record sickle cell has nothing to do with marriage nor does my opponents detailed analysis of chromosomal function. My opponents contention seems to be(once one swats away all the irrelevant factoids) that homosexuals should be treated in the same manner as everyone else and afforded all of the same rights as they are equally human. I agree. So then I suppose I just won this debate as homosexuals already have the right marry just like every other adult human in the U.S. My opponent will argue that they should be able to marry the person of their choice and again I agree. They can already marry the person of their choice. They simply have not been afforded the right to marry someone of the same sex as that does not constitute marriage and would be an additional right to the one they already have. It would be discriminatory to the rest of the population to allow homosexuals to call their relationship marriage. My opponent also contends that homosexuality is not a mental disorder or psycho-social in nature. Lets examine how homosexuality was erroneously removed from the list of mental illnesses. In 1973 after threats, intimidation, and disturbances of the APA proceedings, the APA eventually left the diagnosis in the hands of popular vote by the membership. All of the research up to this point confirmed that homosexuals were indeed psycho-socially abnormal in addition to being at higher risk for alcoholism and other mental disorders. There has never before or since been a medical diagnosis which was rejected by simply a raise of hands. If the diagnosis was removed in error as I have shown unequivocally, then we must assume that homosexuality is in FACT a mental disorder. There are also a large number of ex gays which proves it is a treatable mental illness. Dr. Ronald Bayer, author of the book, Homosexuality and American Psychiatry writes: The entire process, from the first confrontation organized by gay demonstrators to the referendum demanded by orthodox psychiatrists, seemed to violate the most basic expectations about how questions of science should be resolved. Instead of being engaged in sober discussion of data, psychiatrists were swept up in a political controversy. The result was not a conclusion based on an approximation of the scientific truth as dictated by reason, but was instead an action demanded by the ideological temper of the times. Along these same lines, a recent radio documentary on the subject of homosexuality revealed that the President-elect of the APA in 1973, Dr. John P. Speigel, was a "closeted homosexual with a very particular agenda." Some have exaggerated or misrepresented these studies in an attempt to prove that homosexuality is genetic. Others insist that homosexuality is developed after birth as a response to one"s environment. The truth is that we have no conclusive replicable research to prove either conclusion. However, most researchers have come to the conclusion that sexual orientation is likely determined by a complex interaction between a person"s genetic make-up and their environment. Even the American Psychological Association asserts that: There are numerous theories about the origins of a person's sexual orientation; most scientists today agree that sexual orientation is most likely the result of a complex interaction of environmental, cognitive and biological factors. In most people, sexual orientation is shaped at an early age.17.. And the American Psychiatric Association wrote: Currently there is a renewed interest in searching for biological etiologies for homosexuality. However, to date there are no replicated scientific studies supporting any specific biological etiology for homosexuality. So all that crap research you posted regarding the non-existent biological link,debunked. Just give up while you still have no credibility. Enjoy!! http://homosexualityandscience.wordpress.com... http://www.dailykos.com...#