It creates a social backlash that damages substantive equality for homosexuals

As our clash-outline promised, a second substantive justification for not meddling intrusively with the status quo is that Team USA is, ironically, shooting itself in the liberal foot. The very aim of promoting the interests of gay persons will likely be harmed by this proposition. We contend that substantive equality for homosexuality is more important than formal equality. Substantive equality is at risk here & so gives us yet another basis for siding with opposition. Here is why. The proposition's case is an attempt to grant homosexuals what might be called 'formal' equality' - nominally equal rights or sameness of treatment on the statute books. On team opposition we are far more interested in securing for homosexuals 'substantive' equality - broadly equal treatment with broadly equal consequences. While the two are not necessarily mutually exclusive, the former does not necessarily bring about the latter, nor is the latter predicated on the former. As we have already suggested, it is incumbent upon proposition to show that formal equality brings about substantive equality; we believe that too progressive formal equality can actually damage our attempt to gain substantive equality for homosexuals. A good case study is, in fact, South Africa. South Africa was the first country in the world to constitutionally enshrine gay person's right to not be discriminated against on grounds of sexual orientation [[http://www.info.gov.za/documents/constitution/1996/96cons2.htm#9]] . Subsequently, and to little surprise, the constitutional court declared the existing Marriage Act invalid [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same-sex_marriage_in_South_Africa#2005_Constitutional_Court_decision]] and thereafter the South African parliament enacted legislation that enables gay persons to be legally married [[http://www.home-affairs.gov.za/media_releases.asp?id=370]]. Yet, despite this formal equality enjoyed by gay South Africans, there has been a social backlash. Indeed, it is fair to describe South Africa as deeply homophobic, with a huge number of cases of so-called 'corrective rape' for example [cases in which lesbians have been raped in an attempt to 'turn them straight'; some are even killed]. Evidence of this phenomen being widespread has been documented and publicly reported by very credible bodies, such as the South African Human Rights Commission, as well as LGBT pressure groups, like OUT [[http://www.news24.com/Content/SouthAfrica/News/1059/0dc26685e8f3408d9c72ffa6d8884992/12-03-2008-09-13/Corrective_rape_at_schools]] [[http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/12/eudy-simelane-corrective-rape-south-africa]] According to Triangle - one of the prominent gay organisations in South Africa - no less than 86% of lesbian women in townships around Cape Town live in fear of sexual assault because of their orientation. Same-sex marriage has fuelled, rather than stemmed, these homophobic patterns. The moral of this case study is clear: despite liberal constitutionalists - like Team USA - around the world deceptively using South Africa as an example of same-sex marriage legislation being enacted, South Africa showcases both 1) the impotency of using the law as a blunt instrument for bringing about attitudinal changes ; 2) more importantly, shows the social backlash that can happen if a bottom-up strategy for ethical dialogue is substituted for top-down legal prescription. Countries that are even more homophobic - like Botswana or Namibia, say, both of whom have constitutional systems and are members of the UN, and so must fall within the range of countries Team USA have in mind - are likely to see worse backlashes against gay persons. Formal equality is thus a danger to gay persons' enjoyment of substantive equality, the latter being more important. Gradualism is much more sensible - bringing about incremental changes in the lot of gay persons through securing more uncontentions rights for now, such as gay persons' right to live in a safe environment. Same-sex marriage, as our case study shows, is neither necessary nor sufficient to make environments safer for gay persons; indeed, same-sex marriage can militate against that aim in many contexts, liberal societies included.