Same Sex Marriage



For days, I have been mulling over a piece by Anne Paulk in The Oregonian .

In that piece, she voiced her opposition to same sex marriage. She cited a recent newspaper survey as evidence that a majority of Americans oppose same sex marriage, and argued that households with a married mother and father are better for children (I keep coming back to the question, "Better than what?"). She argued that gay men are incapable of committed relationships. She claims that societal countenance of same sex marriages will lead to "increased homosexual experimentation" among youth. In other writings, Ms. Paulk claims to have indulged in just such experimentation, but somehow managed to step back from the abyss.

My first reaction is to follow these viewpoints to their logical conclusion. The Defense Of Marriage folks state that the institution of marriage is for procreation, for children. If this is true, should we allow people who are not capable of reproduction to marry? Is it a misuse of this sacred societal institution for people past childbearing age to marry? If not, then this is really a matter of giving the government veto power over your choice of sexual partners. If households with a married mother and father are best for children, should we make separation, divorce and single parenting illegal?

The whole business of majority opposition is interesting. The Gallup polls did not find support for interracial marriage in this country until 1999. Part of the American experiment is the principle that rule by the majority is just only when the rights of the minority are protected. Many of the more shameful elements of this nation's history are examples of the will of the majority.

I sense a great passion behind these arguments, which seem like clunky little Trojan horses rolled out to achieve an objective. If you look behind the curtain, the foundation for the opposition is religious conviction that same sex marriage is Sinful and therefore Wrong. The trick then becomes, how do you codify your religious beliefs as the law of the land? If you don't have enough people in your ideological bunker to carry the day, you turn to those unconvinced in the middle, and seek to persuade them. Hence, those clumsy little Trojan horses.

In thinking this over, I have decided that for me, the answer to the questions about same sex marriage, is to decide not to have one. My wife's reaction to this decision will probably be amusement rather than relief.

Posted: Thu - June 3, 2004 at 04:19 AM        

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