The continuing controversy over gay marriage has gotten me thinking about regular old marriage. Gay men and lesbians are often portrayed as subverting the social order. In short, build the kind of world the religious right dreams of, except that the basic social unit is a happily married couple of the same sex. No one disputes that the original purpose of the marriage laws was to facilitate procreation. Lots of people think so.
Marriage is now primarily an economic and emotional relationship, the thinking goes.
Following that line of argument, one might easily conclude that it's unfair to deny marital benefits to people in long-term conjugal relationships solely because they're homosexual. Friggin' liberals, some may think. Research to date suggests that children raised by homosexuals turn out about the same as children raised by heterosexuals, with no differences in sexual orientation. Still, you can accept gay marriage without wanting it enacted by judicial fiat. The law's failure to countenance gay marriage is hardly an injustice on a par with antimiscegenation laws.