The Gay Marriage Issue Misses the Point

[Angrboda]

In the gay-marriage debate, the debate primarily centers on whether the religious people will be allowed to persecute the gay, even though many gays are religious. The opponents of gay marriage typically base their opposition on marriage being between a man and a woman, based on some Biblical fantasy. The proponents of gay marriage argue that equal protection applies; that is, since straight people get to marry, gays should have the same equal rights. Both sides miss the point of the gay-marriage issue.

The fact is that it is no one's business whether two or more consenting adults want to get married. The idea one needs permission from the state to marry is offensive. The debate on gay marriage would be completely unnecessary if people recognized that no one has the right to tell another adult whether they can marry another consenting adult. And since no person has such a right, no group of people do either, and that includes the state.

From what I've observed in my own state, which was recently a battleground state, they use the issue of how legitimizing homosexuality will affect society, and particularly the effect that legitimacy could have on children if open homosexuality is endorsed by and taught in public schools and the like. While I don't agree with their thinking, it does then become a public issue and they have been very effective at selling this and other messages in order to drum up opposition to gay marriage.