Spring Break
Same-sex marriages not an equal rights issue, should be banned
Issue date: 2/26/04 Section: Editorial/Opinion
The gay community, in attempting to argue equality with heterosexual marriage, fails to realize that their relationship is unmistakably different from those of heterosexuals. It's time to face facts. Two men or two women living together relate to each other in radically different ways than a man and a woman. Each sex brings fundamentally different perspectives, experiences and capabilities to a relationship. When two women live together, the unique perspective that males have is simply not available. No amount of "masculinity" in one or both members of a lesbian couple equates with that of an actual male.
If the definition of marriage is to be so radically altered, as the gay community argues it should, then we as a society require rigorous justification for that change, as well as an understanding of what the new boundaries will be. If the reasoning for allowing same-sex marriage is "because I love them and they love me" coupled with "it isn't fair otherwise" then this is shoddy reasoning indeed. How can this protect our society from truly egregious behavior such as incest and molestation (where minors could be pressured to affirm consent) without appealing to something entirely arbitrary? What's to stop a 42-year-old man from "marrying" his 15-year-old boyfriend?
The fact is that any distinction concerning the definition of marriage must include some hard line distinguishing marriage from other, different relationships. Such a line has existed for millennia, embodying an inescapable truth about humanity: men and women are different and their union in marriage is both precious and unique. Let's keep it that way.
Marcus Ross
Member, Students for the Awareness of Conservatism
If the definition of marriage is to be so radically altered, as the gay community argues it should, then we as a society require rigorous justification for that change, as well as an understanding of what the new boundaries will be. If the reasoning for allowing same-sex marriage is "because I love them and they love me" coupled with "it isn't fair otherwise" then this is shoddy reasoning indeed. How can this protect our society from truly egregious behavior such as incest and molestation (where minors could be pressured to affirm consent) without appealing to something entirely arbitrary? What's to stop a 42-year-old man from "marrying" his 15-year-old boyfriend?
The fact is that any distinction concerning the definition of marriage must include some hard line distinguishing marriage from other, different relationships. Such a line has existed for millennia, embodying an inescapable truth about humanity: men and women are different and their union in marriage is both precious and unique. Let's keep it that way.
Marcus Ross
Member, Students for the Awareness of Conservatism
