8 Reasons used in court and legislative bodies to justify the ban on same-sex marriages:

Procreation argument:

The purpose of marriage is to procreate; making babies requires a heterosexual couple. However, nobody appears to take this argument to its logical conclusion and terminate or ban all marriages where one partner is impotent, infertile, elderly, or has decided to not have children. In addition, lesbian couples can and do have children; all they need is artificial insemination, just like many heterosexual couples in which the husband is infertile.

Determining who is the legal parent:

Lord Mansfield's rule presumes that children born to a married woman are a product of the husband and the wife. Some have expressed concern over how to establish the parenthood within a homosexual marriage. This is does not seem to be a problem: the spouse bringing children into the marriage would be the parent; the other spouse could try to adopt if they wished
  • both lesbian spouses could be considered parents of any child born into their marriage.
  • both gay spouses could adopt any children brought into their family

Argument from historical tradition:

We have not allowed homosexuals in the past to marry. That is true, but until a few decades ago, we did not allow people of different races to marry. Before that, in some states, we did not allow Afro-American slaves to marry. The institution of marriage has been in a continual state of flux for centuries.

The Defense of Marriage Act:

Many states have passed DOMA laws which they believe will excuse them from recognizing gay or lesbian marriages performed in other states. But some constitutional experts feel that the "full faith and credit" clause of the U.S. Constitution makes such laws unconstitutional. Also, if same-sex couples cannot have the same rights in one state as they do in another, then their ability to travel within the U.S. would be restricted. And the right to travel has been well established by the courts. Finally, the U.S. Supreme Court decided in a recent Colorado voter initiative case that a law which is designed to reduce the civil and human rights of a specific minority is unconstitutional. What is a more fundamental human right than the right to marry?

No compelling state interest:

Legislation must fulfill a compelling state interest in order to be constitutional. Some feel that there is no need to extend equal rights to gays and lesbians. But public opinion polls consistently indicate that the vast majority of homosexuals feel that the right to marry is very important - to them. Also, married people tend to be more monogamous than singles; monogamy lessens the frequency of transmission of AIDS and other STDs.

It would cost too much:

This is a valid point. Giving gays and lesbian couples the same rights as heterosexual couples would indeed increase the tax burden. Married couples pick up over 1,000 responsibilities, benefits and rights from the federal government and hundreds from their state government. So, it is cheaper for governments to deny homosexuals the right to marry. Companies would have to extend dental, medical and other employee benefits to homosexual spouses. But think of how much more money could be saved if the government cut off all benefits for red-heads, or Afro-Americans, or people over 6' tall...or from any other minority. Fairness requires that people be treated equally.

Gay marriages threatens the institution of marriage:

This is presented as a self-evident fact by man theologians, legislators, judges, etc. But we have not been able to find out why they feel that way. The author personally would not feel that his (heterosexual) marriage was threatened if a gay or lesbian couple down the street suddenly was given a marriage license to put on their wall, dental and medical benefits, survivor pension benefits, etc.


Most people are against gay marriages: This is also true. Males and older people in particular oppose same-sex marriages. But then, most people in racially segregated areas were opposed to integration during the 1960's. Most people in those states which prohibited mixed race marriages were opposed to the legalization of those marriages when the U.S. Supreme Court declared the state laws to be unconstitutional. Making some people feel more relaxed is not a sufficient reason to deny others equal rights under law.

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I trust the stuff above is what you wanted to know, Rob. There's a very long history behind legislation and the prohibition of same-sex marriages within the U.S., but that would be a whole other post in itself.