The revisionist position of marriage is worthy of state recognition.

I will argue that the revisionist position is more reasonable than the traditional position of what sort of marriages should be recognised. My opponent began by setting four "ground rules" for this debate. Naturally I accept them, however, I would like to add a fifth. This is not - and cannot be - a debate about whose moral view of marriage or sexuality is superior. Just as I need to show tangible benefits, my opponent needs to show tangible harms, not just appeal to a moral code. This is a debate about whose ideology provides better future outcomes for everybody, not whose morality is right or wrong (which we can both never prove anyway). RebuttalMy opponent's case is that since procreation is necessary for the survival of society, people who are in a relationship where they can procreate should be given special social benefits. Let us put that logic to the test. Is a relationship necessary for procreation? No. I can go out, have a one-night stand and still get a girl pregnant. I could rape a girl and still get her pregnant. I can donate to a sperm bank and impregnate a girl I have never seen before. Secondly, can everybody who marries procreate? No. Celibate priests marry yet cannot procreate. People with medical problems may not be able to procreate. In the middle ages, knights rarely had procreative marriages because they were at war all the time, but they still married. Thirdly, can procreation only happen between a man and a woman? That depends on how narrowly you view "procreation. " I suppose my opponent would define procreation as just having a baby. I would argue procreation is not only giving birth, but also raising and caring for the child until it can fend for itself. Same-sex couples, in particular, frequently fulfil the "raising and caring for" part, for instance in the cases of adoption or death of the child's parents. Furthermore, with new technology such as artificial insemination, many lesbian couples are actually giving birth to children. They might not be theirs, but they are helping society procreate. These are but a few of the holes in the theory that marrying is just about having kids. People don't marry because they want to have kids with somebody (well, maybe a few do, but that's not the point). People mostly marry because they want to recognise their love for somebody. This is what, I think, will be the key area of clash in this debate - is marriage about love? I argue it is. It's not just about sex as my opponent would have you believe. Therefore marriage is not assigning social benefits for procreation, but assigning social status to signify that one is in a legal, loving relationship. CaseTo meet my burden of proof, I must show that the revisionist view of marriage has better outcomes for society, while meeting all five criteria we have set down. If I am successful in this, I win the debate. Let us presume that we do not allow same-sex couples marriage. What will the effect on society be? Would it be unreasonable to expect them to feel disenfranchised, as second-class citizens, because they have fewer rights? History teaches us that in situations where people have fewer rights, they tend to be disruptive. They tend to fight for those rights, for equality under the law. They tend to shift their productivity from working for their people to working against them. That's a real, tangible harm. Estimates vary, but one in ten people being gay seems to be a fair guess, with an even larger number being at least partly bisexual. That's a very large population to disenfranchise, which has all manner of economic and political harms (which I will expand on in later rounds if this is contested). The longer the situation continues, the more it escalates. How can this situation be avoided? By simply officially recognising their marriages. Let's see how well that meets the five criteria. The first is the ridiculously high cost of adding some extra names to a list and sending them certificates of marriage. While it is true taxpayer capital should not be wasted, this cost is not particularly high, and is much cheaper than the alternative of policing every marriage to ensure neither partner is transgender or otherwise trying to get around the law. The second is that is breaches the autonomy of all those taxpayers since it is only for recognition. A gay person might be tempted to invert that line of thinking, because it is their autonomy that is likewise being breached under the status quo. However, my proposal is not for the simple recognition but to prevent a tangible harm, in the same way that defence spending is not a breach of autonomy. The third is that there must not be a slippery slope. Under my proposal this is not the case, because almost all of the deviant sexualities not covered by the revisionist theory (incest, necrophilia, pedophilia etc) are illegal and would therefore not be recognised. There is a significant difference between assigning social status for something illegal and something legal. Besides, even if all the pedophiles of the world were to protest, governments have already accepted that they will lock them up because they are pedophiles. The sole exception is polygamy, which is legal in many parts of the world and therefore is up to the jurisdiction. However, to my knowledge, every jurisdiction where polygamy is legal also recognises polyamorous relationships with marriage under the status quo, so those are not affected. The fourth is that my opponent's view must not be preferable. I have already proven why this is not the case. The fifth is that it must not appeal to a moral truth. As you can see, my argument does not - it appeals to a historical one.