Gay Marriage

Thank you for instigating this debate. First off, not allowing gay couples to be married is not discrimination by any means. In order to say what discrimination is and what isn’t we must first analyze how marriage is defined and why. Marriage is government regulated because the government recognizes that marriage has external benefits to it rather than marriage simply being about the relationship of a couple. The government also recognizes that these benefits marriage can bring when marriage is defined in a certain way can also be inherently good for the society. The government has absolutely no interest in the personal lives of people, the only interest they have in marriage is the direct benefits marriage brings. Allowing gay marriage degrades the government’s interest in marriage only to the personal relationships of two people, but as explained earlier the government could care less about what people do with their private lives. The government recognizes marriage between man and woman because despite the private relationship they have, their relationship still has a natural link to children to be loved by their mother and father. The government wants to promote these good family environments because these family units are good for the survival of a society. After all, it’s a given fact that only a society that produces children and raises them properly will survive and the government wants to promote this. The government promotes these relationships by dispensing benefits to married couples; this is not only a “thank you” for the couples who did get married, but it is also a way to get other heterosexual couples to get married. Now that we’ve analyzed the government’s role in marriage we can understand that there is no discrimination against those who cannot fulfill the role in marriage that the government calls for. In addition, homosexuals can still be married, just like heterosexuals, regardless of sexual orientation. To say homosexuals are discriminated against would be nearly the same as saying any couple that is currently excluded from marriage is being discriminated against. Now that we understand the government’s role in marriage we can understand that there is no unjust discrimination going against any couple who cannot be married. I will await any contentions you have to these arguments. Contentions I will now be contending to my opponent’s arguments. Contention 1 “Same-sex couples should be allowed to publicly celebrate their commitment in the same way as heterosexual couples.” The fact is, homosexuals can publicly celebrate their marriage, but not with each other. Without marital restrictions anyone could be married to anything and that would take away the societal efficiency marriage brings. In my opening arguments I explained further why we should keep marriage between man and woman. “Homosexuals are humans too. They have rights too. And for this, they should have the right to marry who they love.” Homosexuals do have rights. In fact, they have the exact same rights as anyone else. What is being proposed by gay marriage advocates is an extension of rights. However, since there is no good reason for an extension of rights, and because society is most efficient with marriage between man and woman, gay marriage should therefore not be legal. Contention 2 “Same-sex couples should have access to the same benefits enjoyed by heterosexual married couples.” Homosexuals can enjoy the same benefits as heterosexuals, seeing that we have the exact same rights. Seeing that there is no good reason for an extension of rights, there is no reason to allow gay marriage. Since benefits are dispensed because married couples promote the family unit, there is no reason to dispense rights to same-sex couples because they do not inherently promote the family unit. It’s a reward system for the efficiency of the society, and same-sex couples do not fulfill the criteria for “earning” this reward. Contention 3 I didn’t plan on arguing precisely for traditional marriage so there is no need to respond to this.