Moral and legal pluralism in relation to same-sex marriage is acceptable

First, it is important to recognise that the explanation for why different viewpoints exist on whether or not same-sex marriage should be legal, is because different people, and governments, have different intuitions about whether or not homosexuality, per se, is acceptable. It is hard to imagine that this debate would be a live one in a world in which everyone agreed that homosexuality is acceptable. It would follow with moral ease that legal systems should, and would, reflect such moral consensus. So, even though the same-sex marriage debate is often articulated without reference to the messy background debate about homosexuality's moral status, Team South Africa want to yank that issue out of the closet, because it is the real driver of disagreement about same-sex marriage in the first place. Two important questions stem from all of this. Firstly, can there be reasonable moral disagreement on the status of homosexuality? Secondly, what are the implications of question one for the debate on same-sex marriage? We answer the first question in the affirmative. It follows from this that a legal plurality on same-sex marriage is acceptable also. ON REASONABLE MORAL AND LEGAL DISAGREEMENT: STEP 1] Many ethical views on homosexuality exist. On the conservative end of the spectrum, often informed by religious textual authority, is the view that homosexuality offends the prescriptions of God - or a God-alternative - and since God is the sole source of moral authority, homosexuality is wrong. On the liberal end of the spectrum, of course, is the kind of view that informs Team USA's intuitions no doubt - that rationality, not God, is the source of morality. Since no rational justification can be proferred for distinguishing between gay persons and heterosexual persons in relation to the distribution of legal regimes like marriage, it is irrational, and therefore immoral, to deny gay persons' right to marry. Between these end-points, a range of views exist between e.g. homosexuality is ok but marriage is an institution with a unique religious aetiology which should not extend to homosexuals. These three positions - there are many others - constitute proof of opposition's contention that there is a plurality of moral views on homosexuality. More importantly, it is ok that these diverse views exists. We cannot adjudicate between them. The liberal framework informing Team USA's view is not based in a universal moral truth that every person must accept in order to resist a charge of immorality. We challenge Team USA to justify why their moral framework should be granted the lofty status of 'moral objectivity'. It is precisely because moral views reflect the socio-cultural norms within which they were developed that moral objectivity is elusive. Some like banana on pizza (or, indeed, inside them); others don't. Either way, we cannot adjudicate between these matters of taste. They are just that - differences in taste. Similarly, moral intuitions are just reflections of moral taste between persons, and governments, around the world. While I may regard your moral taste as 'bad taste', I cannot give mine priority over yours in determining and ranking moral viewpoints on particular issues like homosexuality. Thefore, there can be, and indeed there is, reasonable disagreement on whether or not homosexuality is morally acceptable. STEP 2] Given, therefore, that there is reasonable disagreement about the ethical status of homosexuality, it follows that legal pluralism on the issue is neither surprising nor unacceptable. After all, there is an important relationship between law and morality: the legitimacy of a legal system partly derives from reflecting the social mores of the citizens who are subject to that legal system. If there is a gap between the moral norms of a legal system, and the moral convictions of that society, then the legal system's credibility is at stake. This is not to say that law making process is a crude matter of doing a headcount of the views of citizens. Not so. Of course if the views of a citizenship is beyond the pale, then a progressive legal system could challenge it. If, for example, 90% of a citizenry thought that twins should be killed, it would be hard to argue that a legal system should unthinkingly reflect this wish. However, homosexuality is not a matter in respect of which ethical disagreements are so easily solved. The range of moral attitudes are not 'beyond the pale' but for the liberal one Team USA is sustaining. It is ok for a view that regards homosexuality as immoral to exist. If this is conceded - as it surely must be - then it is ok for a legal system in a country, through whatever the law-making processes are that exist in that country - to reflect this view in its policy (or not) on same-sex marriage. It follows that moral and legal pluralism in relation to same-sex marriage is acceptable.