Same-sex Marriage

The Slippery Slope is a valid threat My opponent dismisses the slippery slope as ridiculous, but it is a legitimate threat. But, if anything, polygamy has a stronger foothold than same-sex marriage. Same-sex marriage (SSM) is a relatively new phenomena in the Western World. This is not true for polygamy, which has deep roots historically within Mormon culture, the Middle East, and existed throughout Europe at different points in time. This makes polygamy a historical reality and may cause it to actually lead to legalization. SSM has no such advantage of historical existence. Canada legalized SSM in 2005. The Canadian’s are now seeing polygamy cases go through their court systems. “[There is] a case now before a Canadian judge testing the national ban on polygamy. British Columbia Chief Justice Robert Bauman is expected to rule later this year on whether anti-polygamy laws violate Canada’s constitution. Canada legalized same-sex marriage in 2005. ” [1. . http://www.washingtontimes.com...] It is very likely that some form of polygamy activism, and eventual legalization, would occur if we change the definition of marriage. The only argument against this would be if my opponent wishes to argue in favor of polygamy, which is an untenable position to people who understand the nuclear family and its benefits for children. SSM harms the institution of marriage Many in the past had pointed towards the Dutch family unit and hailed it as proof that liberal familial policies can work with the traditional family. But this is not necessarily correct. Evidence from the Netherlands suggests out-of-wedlock births increased in the 80s, continued to increase in the 90s but at a slower rate. The accelerated increase occurred again when same-sex civil unions were passed and has been increasing consistently since SSM legalization [2. . http://www.weeklystandard.com...]. The analysis extends further through divorce rates. Divorce rates were increasing, but fairly slowly, in the Netherlands before 2000. But in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the divorce rate rapidly increased after same-sex marriage legalization [3. . http://www.census.gov...]. Similar arguments in favor of SSM apply to no-fault divorce laws. They suggested that it was impossible for no-fault divorce to harm marriage, and many argued it would make marriage better. They cited evidence that women would not be able to escape abuse from men, so no-fault divorce laws served to protect them. None of these turned out to be true. No-fault divorce laws do impact divorce rates, as proven by virtually every study on the issue. “Seventeen of 24 recent empirical studies find that the introduction of no-fault divorce laws increased the divorce rate … One of the higher estimates (Kidd (1995) found no-fault divorce boosted divorce rates as much as 88 percent. More typically, studies estimate no-fault divorce increased divorce rates on the order of 5 to 30 percent (e. g. , Drewianka (2006), Friedberg (1998), Gruber (2004), Iverson (2005), Matouschek and Rasul (2006), Reilly and Evenhouse (1997), Rogers et al. (1997)). ” [4. . http://www.marriagedebate.com...] SSM leads to a loss of freedom I will again cite Canada. Canada is a great comparison as, until recently, their economy closely matched the US, they are a leading trade partner, and are one of the most relatable countries to the US and serve a good comparison. In Canada, many have been accused of hate for speaking out against gay marriage. Although many acquiesce, others choose to combat the lawsuits. Even though they usually win, it costs the defendant “hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees. ” [5. . http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com...] While gay people may benefit, others lose their right to freedom of speech and religion.