Gay marriage

Thanks ken. My opponent cites the Loving case, which legalized interracial marriage. Lisa Trei of Stanford believes that Loving will ultimately be used to legalize gay marriage because it calls marriage a fundamental human right. http://news.stanford.edu... My opponent cites the Skinner case, but a 1942 case banning the sterilization of criminals hardly invalidates gay marriage. == Procreation == 60 year old women cannot have children. Period. The State would not need to do fertility tests to determine this. And yet 60 year olds, 70 year olds, 80 year olds, 90 year olds, etc can all marry, even though they cannot procreate. In addition, people are allowed to get married multiple times - this doesn't uphold the sanctity of marriage. 75% of third marriages end in divorce - this can't be good for any children that result from this marriage. These are *really* bad odds. And "[c]hildren of divorce are more than twice as likely to have serious social, emotional, or psychological problems." http://www.clasp.org... In addition, gay couples can procreate, just not with each other. I don't understand why the state would be concerned whether both parents are a DNA match with the child. Supposedly, the state only cares that we are propagating the species. I don't really understand how the traditional definition of marriage promotes responsible procreation. Do youngsters have less premarital sex because of the traditional view of marriage? Answer: NO - 80% of teen pregnancies are unintended. Do people abstain from sex until marriage? Answer: NO - 90% of people engage in premarital sex. http://www.msnbc.msn.com... Lastly, remember studies of countries with gay marriage find that the legalization of gay marriage has not decreased the straight marriage rate or fertility rates. My opponent's arguments are all disproven by the experience of other countries. == Supreme Court == The Supreme Court have never ruled directly on gay marriage, but the Massachusetts Supreme Court *has* and concluded the 14th Amendment *does* guarantee equal marriage rights. In fact, I've proven that homosexual couples cannot receive the same rights under federal law and thus the 14th Amendment applies. == The Netherlands marriage rate declined == According to Slate, "Currently there are nine European countries that give marital rights to gay couples . . . In Denmark, for example, . . . [a]fter the 1989 passage of the registered-partner law, the marriage rate continued to climb; Danish heterosexual marriage rates are now the highest they've been since the early 1970's. And the most recent marriage rates in Sweden, Norway, and Iceland are all higher than the rates for the years before the partner laws were passed." Slate then specifically refutes my opponents point, "The main evidence Kurtz points to [in order to argue against gay marriage] is the increase in cohabitation rates among unmarried heterosexual couples and the increase in births to unmarried mothers. Roughly half of all children in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark are now born to unmarried parents. In Denmark, the number of cohabiting couples with children rose by 25 percent in the 1990s. . . . But Kurtz's interpretation of the statistics is incorrect. Parenthood within marriage is still the norm—*most cohabitating couples marry after they start having children.* In Sweden, for instance, 70 percent of cohabiters wed after their first child is born. Indeed, in Scandinavia the majority of families with children are headed by married parents. In Denmark and Norway, roughly four out of five couples with children were married in 2003. In the Netherlands, a bit south of Scandinavia, 90 percent of heterosexual couples with kids are married." http://www.slate.com... So yes, cohabitation has increased meaning more couples are living together before marriage. But they still get married in the end. And again, in the Netherlands, which my opponent cites, 90 percent of heterosexual couples with kids are married. In contrast, out of wedlock marriage rates in the US, which has "traditional" marriage, are soaring among 20-30 year olds. http://www.nytimes.com... 4 out of 10 babies in the US are born to an unmarried mother. "As rates of out of wedlock births in the US have increased over the past three decades, rates of cohabitation among unwed parents also have risen." http://www.columbia.edu... So the traditional view of marriage isn't doing anything here. Extend across all my other arguments too - my opponent hasn't responded to any of them. I'll restate them in the last round.