Same-sex marriage in the U.S.

Status of Same-Sex MarriageCivil marriage (since whatever religions choose to do on their own time is their own business) is defined as "a. The legal union of a man and woman as husband and wife, and in some jurisdictions, between two persons of the same sex, usually entailing legal obligations of each person to the other.b. A similar union of more than two people; a polygamous marriage. [1]"This legal union is a legal status which changes the rights and obligations of the people within the marriage. In the US, the right to enter into this union is limited to two people per union and may require them to be of opposite sex depending on jurisdiction. Some states do not allow people of the same sex to be married, and require them to be different sexes.In those states, people who wish to marry others of the same sex are discriminated against based on their sex. Only a man may marry a woman and only a woman may marry a man. If a man wishes to marry a man, this right is denied on the basis of their sex. This also touches on discrimination due to sexual orientation, since this situation is predicated on the individuals desire to marry someone of the same sex. Con's ChoiceWe've got a few rounds to go, so here's where Con needs to make a choice.The Equal Protection Clause of the Fourthteenth Amendment guarantees requires that, "If a law discriminates between one group of people and another, the government must have a rational basis for doing so. A law that discriminates on the basis of a suspect classification -- that is, it makes a distinction based on race, gender, or another trait that has historically resulted in discriminatory treatment -- is constitutional only if there is a very compelling reason for the distinction."[2]As Con says, "My argument, in a nutshell against gay marriage is this, where the possibility of natural children is nil in practice and/or in principle, the meaning of marriage is nil .... the law would publicly declare that, from now on, Marriage can be understood apart from responsible procreation, natural parenthood, and connecting children to their own mothers and fathers."I congratulate Con on making a very clear and concise summary of his position. Everything from his highly selective vision of 'traditional marriage' to his ideas about the state using marriage to promote responsible procreation and ideal partnerships boils down to the argument that marriage is about creating children and raising children.Now, the obvious problem with this is that opposite-sex marriage is not bound to responsible procreation, natural parenthood, or connecting children to their own mothers and fathers. Opposite-sex marriage is not bound by rules ensuring that opposite-sex couples have and raise children.The states which disallow same-sex couples being married do not prevent opposite-sex couples getting married who:Cannot have childrenWill not have childrenHave a high risk of passing birth defects to children they do haveHave abused childrenHave killed childrenHave non-sex related characteristics associated with raising poor kids with behavioural problems that struggle in schoolThe rationale Con uses to justify the denial of rights to same-sex couples is not applied to opposite sex-couples. That puts it squarely as a violation of equal protection.So what now? Either Con has to advocate for the denial of marraige rights in all cases that might result in sub-optimal child production, or drop the argument that child production is the sole legitimizing purpose of marriage and come up with something different.Either way promises an interesting debate. The Immediate Effects of Redefining Marriage Hooray for all of these! Source issuesAs a final note for this round, Con's links just go to homepages. Even if Con can make them relevant, until he produces the actual evidence there's no reason to consider his arguments about the effects of same-sex divorce on straight marriages or that same-sex couples make worse parents. [1]http://www.thefreedictionary.com...[2]http://www.law.cornell.edu...