Reason in favour of Gay Marriage #3:

Same Sex Marriage should be legalised because
RESTRICTIONS ON MARRIAGE SHATTER CIVIL RIGHTS

Argument in favour of Gay Marriage:

Laws against same sex marriage are akin to laws criminalising interracial marriage. In the past, such laws violated the fundamental rights of Aboriginal Australians and African Americans by restricting whom they could marry. In the same way, laws that prevent same sex couples from marrying also violate their fundamental rights. Thus, same sex marriage is a civil rights issue.

The Facts:

The campaign to legalise same sex marriage is not at all comparable to the struggle to legalise interracial marriage; they are categorically different movements. And the reason they are categorically different is because issues of homosexuality are in a totally different category to issues of race. Here’s why:

— Homosexuality can only be detected by self-identification, whereas race can usually be detected visually. And if visual confirmation isn’t enough, a simple blood test or genetic test can clarify. However no such methods exist for identifying homosexuality; self-identification is the only way.

— Interracial unions can produce children. Same sex unions cannot. Hence laws forbidding interracial marriage are categorically different from laws forbidding same sex marriage. After all, a law forbidding marriage between two people who have the ability to breed cannot be in the same category as a law forbidding marriage between two people who do not possess that ability.

— Interracial marriage advocates did not change the meaning of marriage. They still held that marriage was between a man and a woman. But same sex marriage advocates are changing the meaning of marriage altogether.

The Real Issues:

The campaign to legalise same sex marriage is not a civil rights campaign. It’s a campaign to redefine marriage. Same sex couples are not being denied the right to marry (after all, you can’t be denied a right to something that doesn’t exist); they’re being denied the right to change the meaning of marriage. What’s wrong with that?

Conclusion:

The only way you could conclude that the campaign to legalise same sex marriage is the same as the struggle to legalise interracial marriage is if you think that issues of sexual preference are no different from issues of race. But that’s a mistake. Because homosexuality is categorically different from race

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