Gay Marriage Legalization in the U.S.

Hi, Con. Thank you for accepting the debate, and good luck. I hope nothing in this debate is personally offensive to you, I do not mean it to be so. Gay marriage, being the formal and lawful union between two people of the same sex, should be legal in the United States for the following reasons (these reasons may include rebuttals to common anti-gay arguments): 1. Marriage certified under United States law is a legal entity, not a moral or religious one. The United States is a country not based off of any religion, making arguments based of religious preference invalid in this case (for example, an argument saying "God does not want gay marriage" or "gays are sinners according to my religion" is invalid, as the United States does not regard religion and religious beliefs in lawmaking). Similarly, separation of church and state (an entity widely recognized in the United States due to the terms of the First Amendment) bans the state and state based entities (including marriage licenses issued by state) from being influenced by church based entities (including what different religious groups have to say about a state law). Therefore, religious beliefs may not influence state lawmaking decisions, as lawmakers must make decisions strictly off evidence that is not related to church. 2. In the current gay marriage situation, homosexuals are asking for a state marriage license, not a church marriage license. This can be deduced from the evidence that homosexuals want the legalization of marriage in the United States, an entity not based off religion or religious values, but rather those of state. Homosexuals do not want their marriage licenses approved by a church, but rather by the government. Therefore, the church does not need to approve of a marriage license in order for one to be created by government. Church beliefs are invalid in the making of a governmental marriage license because of this. Furthermore, the church does not need to accept a governmental marriage license as valid. The church can say, "I do not approve of this", which is perfectly legal and acceptable. Rather, gays are asking for the government to approve of their license, irrelevant of what the church has to say. Therefore, as a governmental marriage license has nothing to do with religion, one should be able to be obtained regardless of the sexes of its potential owners. 3. This point refers to Christians and some Jews: Most people who oppose the legalization of gay marriage do so because they believe that it is labeled as a sin in the book of Leviticus (part of the Torah, Pentateuch, Bible, Old Testament, etc.) However, according to the book of Leviticus, only homosexual sexual acts are prohibited. Leviticus says nothing about civil unions, marriage, or other marital benefits. Therefore, according to Leviticus, these are not prohibited. Furthermore, allowing gay marriage to be legalized is not a sin. It says nothing about this in the Bible - not even gay marriage is prohibited, only gay sexual acts. A neutral position on the subject would also be far from sinning. 4. Legalizing gay marriage will not affect you in any feasible major way whatsoever (unless, of course, you are gay and wanting to marry). Theories that allowing gay marriage will let schools start teaching children how to perform gay sex, or that laws persecuting straights will start to be passed, are simply unreasonable and absolutely false. Letting other people be happy is not bad. It is good. If you think allowing American homosexuals to marry is a sin, then let them sin - it will not affect you. If you think marriage will promote gay sexual acts that would not occur otherwise - it won't. Gay sex is not illegal in the US, and preventing gays from marrying will not stop this from occurring. If you support gay marriage legalization, or maintain a neutral position, you will not be 'sinning'. You will simply be letting others do what they want and be happy. 5. The concept that marriage is between a man and a woman is historically inaccurate. Marriage predates the Bible by far, which makes statements such as 'traditional marriage is between a man and a woman' false, as traditional marriage occurred before people started to say that it could only occur between a man and woman. Thank you for listening to my argument. Sincerely, Pro