Gay Marriage should be legalized.

Thank you for accepting, I'll get straight on to my opening arguments.Argument:1. Children need a Mum and a Dad.The institution of marriage is one that allows, primarily, for a stable family atmosphere. Thus marriage promotes children. However, is it right that homosexual couples should be encouraged to raise children. Children are in need of good role models and, whilst a gay couple may be, individually, excellent role models, children need both a male and female role model.A study carried out very recently, which sent questionnaires to 3,000 18-39 year olds, 247 of whom had grown up with parents in a same-sex relationship, showed that there is a difference between children who grow up with same-sex parents and children who grow up with heterosexual parents. I would like to point out that the sample is actually statistically representative.'[1]Compared with children raised by their married biological parents (IBF), children of homosexual parents (LM and GF): Are much more likely to have received welfare (IBF 17%; LM 69%; GF 57%) Have lower educational attainment Report less safety and security in their family of origin Report more ongoing "negative impact" from their family of origin Are more likely to suffer from depression Have been arrested more often If they are female, have had more sexual partners--both male and female' Those are the most statistically significant results that were found. Here is a list of other statistically significant results:'[2]Children of lesbian mothers: Are more likely to be currently cohabiting Are almost 4 times more likely to be currently on public assistance Are less likely to be currently employed full-time Are more than 3 times more likely to be unemployed Are nearly 4 times more likely to identify as something other than entirely heterosexual Are 3 times as likely to have had an affair while married or cohabiting Are an astonishing 10 times more likely to have been "touched sexually by a parent or other adult caregiver." Are nearly 4 times as likely to have been "physically forced" to have sex against their will Are more likely to have "attachment" problems related to the ability to depend on others Use marijuana more frequently Smoke more frequently Watch TV for long periods more frequently Have more often pled guilty to a non-minor offense' Personally, I would question the validity of some of these results as it is more than likely that some of the people who filled in the questionnaires were out to represent homosexual parents in a disfavourable light and, therefore, lied about having parents who were in homosexual relationships. However, this is unlikely to account for all, or even a majority, of the data.2. ReligionThere is no argument in 'the bible says that homosexual relationships are bad and therefore it is immoral to allow gay marriage.' However, there is an argument to be had that it is immoral to force religious institutions, such as the church of England, to perform gay marriages. It is an invasion of the culture and beliefs of Christians (or any other religion, for that matter) to force them to marry two people whom they do not deem appropriate for their 'ceremony' or 'rite' or whatever you would like to call it. Whilst you may believe this to still be discrimination, it is only discrimination in the same way that an insurance company discriminates if they decide not to issue life insurance to an individual with a terminal illness. The individual cannot change the fact that they have the illness, but this does not mean that life insurance should be issued to that individual as it would not be in the interests of the insurance company, much the same as marrying a homosexual couple would not be in the interest of promoting the various values and beliefs that a Christian church may wish to promote.3. Marriage is archaic.This is an interesting argument. Some would argue that the institution of marriage is one that oppresses two individuals to agree to conform to a certain set of archaic, and often heterosexual, values. '[3]Paula Ettelbrick, JD, Professor of Law and Women's Studies, wrote in 1989, "Marriage runs contrary to two of the primary goals of the lesbian and gay movement: the affirmation of gay identity and culture and the validation of many forms of relationships."'The concept of 'gay culture' is relatively new when compared to the institution of marriage, which actually predates recorded history (if you don't only include 'Christian marriage.') Allowing homosexual couples to marry jars two inherently different cultures together, thus attempting to assimilate them. The fact is, gay culture is not the same as the culture in which marriage belongs (primarily religious ones), so why attempt to make them so. Gay culture should be celebrated for what it is, it should be kept seperate from institutions such as marriage, which is, now, primarily religious. Instead, a different option should be put in place which is similar to marriage, in that it allows two people to declare their love for each other, but avoids religious connotations. This is my opening argument. Thank you for reading! Over to you, Pro! Sources:[1]http://www.frc.org...[2]http://www.frc.org...[3]http://gaymarriage.procon.org...;