gay marriage should be legalized in the US

Thanks to Pro for the thoughtful comments. Pro has offered three topics and a question. I have identified each using subject headers for the readers benefit. I will respond to each accordingly and offer a conclusion. Slavery and the Cherokee Nation Pro seems to want to counter my claim that state involvement on an issue is to benefit the citizenry. Pro does so by highlighting examples of slavery and the treatment of the Cherokee Nation. I am not entirely sure of the purpose here other than to point out that sometimes the state behaves badly. If so, then I agree with Pro. However, I certainly hope Pro is not attempting to compare slavery and the treatment of the Cherokee Nation to not legalizing gay marriage. I will give pro the benefit of the doubt and make no such assumption. If Pro has an alternative purpose for state involvement, then I am interested to hear it. I see no reason to comment further on this topic. Adoption Although I do not see how Adoption is strictly germane to the debate, I will address this topic as it relates to the welfare of children. I hope Pro will agree that environments into which children are adopted can vary greatly. The various Child Services Agencies do their best to place children in good adoptive homes. If a child can be placed in a home environment that is better than their current situation, then I am all for it. As previously shown, however, the overall best environment for children is with their biological parents. Should this not be possible, the next best environment is one where there is a mother and a father (either biological or adoptive). Children need a mother AND a father. I am sure that there are plenty of single parents and same-sex couples who raise extremely well adjusted and productive children (some under very difficult circumstances). Likewise, I am sure there are numerous heterosexual couples who do an extremely poor job of raising children, but studies show a significant benefit for children raised by a female (mother) and a male (father). Unfortunately, this will never occur in a single parent or same-sex parental home. (2) Benefits Pro has identified some cases where benefits are extended to married couples that are not extended to co-habiting or other relationship types. In many instances a co-habiting couple can enjoy some of the same benefits via prudent financial planning (ex.: joint checking accounts, designating beneficiaries, power of attorney, etc.). I concede that a married couple enjoys unique benefits, but I believe they should. When a man and a woman come together in marriage, the state wants to support the likelihood that this marriage will result in procreation. As previously established there is a benefit to the state to treat this unique relationship differently than couples who merely co-habitate or same-sex couples with no chance of natural procreation. A man and a woman make a lifelong commitment to each other and there is a potential of natural procreation. It is in interest of the state to support this couple so that their children are raised by them. Question Pro asked if I would want my family to receive benefits in the event something tragic happens to me. My answer is, “yes”, and I have taken the necessary steps to insure that occurs. Before I was married and had children, I designated my nephew as my beneficiary and took the necessary steps to see that he received those benefits. Conclusion Pro has discussed Slavery and the Cherokee Nation in defense to rebut my position. I believe I have shown that these arguments are not directly pertinent to this debate. I have provided additional support for my argument that the best environment is that children are raised by their biological parents and that the state should hold traditional marriage in a unique position for this reason. Other than attempting to refute my points, Pro has not offered justification on why gay-marriage should be considered the same as heterosexual marriage and thus enjoy legalization. Sources (2) http://www.foryourmarriage.org...