Same-sex Marriage

Inborn? Whether or not homosexuality is inborn is irrelevant. Many things are inborn but are not desirable traits. But to say homosexuality is inborn is totally incorrect. To suggest the research supports such a claim ignores pretty much every possible variable. The largest twin studies show low concordance rates and suggest that homosexuality is only about 10-20% genetically caused [1. . http://www.mygenes.co.nz...]. A 10-20% influence is extremely small. To put it into perspective, puberty is about 90% genetically caused and heterosexuality concordance rates are around 95%. A 10-20% influence is considered weak to modest. And that is not significant and proves that homosexuality is likely caused by a complex mixture of environmental factors. My opponent says we cannot discriminate against people who do not ‘choose’ something. This is not true. Although murderers are not anything like homosexuals (it is merely an illustrative example), many murderers are ‘born that way’. But we discriminate against them harshly. And discrimination is not necessarily bad, it is unjust discrimination which is bad. I have argued that allowing SSM will lead to (1) polygamy legalization, (2) harm the institution of marriage, and (3) lead to a loss of freedom. If any of those are proven correct I have showed that there are justifications for discriminating against homosexuals and that SSM should be prohibited. My opponent claims polygamy is a choice—which is debatable. Technically entering marriage at all is a choice—whether gay or straight—so polygamy is a choice in that they can choose to be monogamous or celibate. But comparisons to primates suggests we are moderately polygamous. We are about in the middle of everything that determined how primates interact sexually—median size, genital ratios, etc. Thus, we are a species with some natural polygamous tendencies [2. . http://www.wsj.com...]. Really the logic behind gay marriage is to (1) do not unjustly discriminate and (2) to promote love. But polygamous couples can love just as much as gay people and there is no reason to discriminate against polygamists if gay marriage is legalized—there is nothing different between gay marriage and polygamous marriage (not in the actual sense, but in the stance of the law). So it naturally follows that if we legalize gay marriage that polygamy should be legalized. Netherlands My opponent claims the Netherlands divorce rates and declining marriage rates are not because of gay marriage, but because of other societal impacts. This may be true, but part of the period when divorces began to increase occurred in the mid-90s when civil unions were open to homosexuals. But in that period, unemployment was fairly low. Registered partnerships passed in 1997. But in 1997 unemployment rates fell from the previous decade levels until 2000, and during the period divorce increased. In 2000, when gay marriage was legalized unemployment did increase (recession), and continued to increase until 2004. But the unemployment rate continued to fall, and as it fell divorce rates still increased [3. . http://www.indexmundi.com...]. Unemployment alone seems unlikely to have caused the divorce changes. It should be noted that during the period unemployment rates varied a lot but divorce rates continued to increase only after gay rights were expanded. Indeed, during periods of both low employment and high employment there seems to be a correlation that as more gay couples register to marry that heterosexual marriage rates correspondingly decline [4. . http://www.marriagedebate.com...]. Emigration is when people leave the country. I do not see how this would affect divorce rates. Immigration, according to my opponent, was exceeded by emigration. This means fewer immigrants are arriving, which, if anything, would produce a lower divorce rate. Migration rates were fairly stable from 2000 – 2004, a period where divorce increased after SSM (so cannot explain the difference), increased for a year in 2004, and then has plummeted since [5. . http://www.indexmundi.com...]. Again, this factor cannot be causing the divorce increase My opponent has dropped freedoms and thus concedes it as true.