Smasharoo wrote:
I understand perfectly why people wish to grant those benefits to gay couples. I disagree that we should. Those are completely different things. My argument largely revolves around the fact that the cost to society if same sex couples don't marry is significantly lower than the cost to society if opposite sex couples don't. The question is not "how does it hurt you if a gay couple marries?". It's "how does it hurt you if they don't?".
The social effects of marriage show no indication of being tied to sexual orientation, and primarily revolve around stability for children, the increased stability of two income households in times of stress, etc. Not rocket science. There's certainly an argument that there is no benefit to legally codifying cohabitation. There is no valid argument that there is a benefit to codifying hetro cohabitation but not SSM. This isn't new ground, been endlessly thrashed out in court cases and academia for decades now.
The social effects of marriage show no indication of being tied to sexual orientation, and primarily revolve around stability for children, the increased stability of two income households in times of stress, etc. Not rocket science. There's certainly an argument that there is no benefit to legally codifying cohabitation. There is no valid argument that there is a benefit to codifying hetro cohabitation but not SSM. This isn't new ground, been endlessly thrashed out in court cases and academia for decades now.
Now rewrite that, but eliminate benefits that only apply to the couple themselves versus benefits that apply to the rest of society.
The statistical deltas for the outcomes of children based on whether their parents were married when the children were born is massive. Those deltas affect whether those children grow up to be productive members of society, or whether they end out being in and out of jail, so it's of interest to society as a whole. Additionally, those deltas aren't nearly as large based on if they are raised by a married couple. It's the actual legal status of your parents when you were born that matters the most. This is why it's not about benefit for people raising children. It's about having parents in a legally binding marriage when they produce children. This is incredibly relevant to opposite sex couples, and completely irrelevant to same sex couples. Surely you can see why?