Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Same-sex Marriage

It's time for me to present my opinion of same-sex marriage, a topic of which I know nothing, so I'll freely admit that my own opinion is total hogwash.
 
I know nothing about gay people, so I have no idea whether the institution of marriage is right for them.  That's for them to decide.  I'm not qualified to deny them something that might or might not work for them.
 
All arguments I've ever seen against same-sex marriage appear to fall into three categories: first, it's not the way we imagine marriage was done a thousand years ago therefore we can't do it now; second, somebody's religion says homosexuality is an Abomination Unto The Lord (or some such theological jibberish); and third, extending marriage to a new category of people will destroy it in some vaporously unfathomable way.  I consider all these arguments utterly spurious.
 
Now I'll admit that same-sex marriage is quite a jolt to my concept of what's usual, but I see no material harm in it.  Now I realize that the institution of marriage has been custome-fine-tuned for the benefit of opposite-sex couples, but whether or not it would be workable for same-sex couples is something only gay people can decide.  If we let them try it, and if they try it, and if they find it doesn't work for them, then fine, they'll at least have the opportunity to find out for themselves whether they can make it work.
 
I suspect it'll be quite a few years before Maryland considers legalizing same-sex marriage, but if it ever does come up for a vote during my lifetime I'll vote for it.  I'm not qualified to vote against it.
 
Now, whether same-sex couples should have children either by adoption or by donor insemination depends on how the children will be raised.  That's a topic for sociologists to examine scientifically, and that's outside of my field of expertise.  I'll abstain from presenting any opinion.

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