Debunking an Absurd Anti-Gay Marriage Argument
Ignoring the obviously dumb way she put it, the senator’s wife actually touched upon the fundamental idea behind most anti-gay marriage arguments. The wife claimed that gay marriage threatens children being born, and that we should stop it so that more children can be born (amusingly she only mentioned the need for white babies to be born, but most anti-gay marriage arguments don’t make this mistake).
First, there are several problems to address:
1. It is unbelievable that we, as a society, could be so against a group that would adopt countless numbers of children in need of a family. Sometimes it is better to adopt than have more babies (though obviously not morally obligatory), and we shouldn’t deter people who would make this decision.
2. It would be a ridiculously hard argument to make to say that America needs to have more children.
Ignoring even these two points, the central problem with the argument, that it seems the anti-gay marriage movement makes repeatedly, is that by eliminating the right to marry for gay couples, those gay couples will somehow become straight and marry heterosexual people.
This argument is so beyond absurd that it pains me to think about. The argument literally believes that people are out there who just want to get married, regardless of to which sex it is to, and will only marry the opposite sex if they are legally forbidden from marrying the same sex. In effect, the argument believes that allowing gay marriage to happen will increase the amount of people who are gay.
If people are going to make this argument, then they need to know what they are effectively claiming. And rational people should treat this argument with as much disdain as any other argument that is based in such idiotic beliefs. Further, we should recognize that this utter failure in reasoning is responsible for the continued discrimination against millions of people.
