Maryland’s highest court has upheld a 34-year-old state law banning same-gender marriage, rejecting an attempt by 19 adult Americans to marry the partner of their choice.
The divided (4-3) Court of Appeals ruled that limiting marriage to a man and a woman does not discriminate against gay couples or deny them constitutional rights. Since marriage is a government-endorsed contract that confers government-created benefits (regarding taxation, inheritance, travel, healthcare, etc.), how can withholding those benefits from certain couples NOT constitute discrimination?
More troubling than this illogic, however, is the judges’ statement that prohibiting same-gender marriage promotes the state’s interest in heterosexual marriage as a means of having and protecting children.
What exactly is it about letting gays marry that would diminish the motivation of heteros to procreate?
* “I’d marry you, George, but since I can marry Helen, forget it!”
* “I’d love to have a baby with you, Mary, but now that gays are marrying and having babies, well, I’m just not in the mood.”
Even worse is the assumption that the state should restrict the privilege of marriage to those who can have bear children. If that’s so, why not test those applying for marriage licenses for fertility instead of STDs? Let’s get serious, and prevent people from marrying if they’re infertile, post-menopausal, sterilized, unable to get erections, or simply not interested in breeding.
Better yet, annul any marriage that does not produce a child within three years.
The solution to the same-gender marriage hysteria is simple:
1. Religious organizations can decide exactly who they want to bless with marriage;
2a. Government should get out of the business of certifying relationships (it doesn’t have a very good track record, does it?).
2b. If government insists on certifying relationships, it shouldn’t award any rights to those it certifies.
2c. If government insists on handing out civil rights and benefits to those it certifies, it
should distribute them to all committed adult relationships equally.
Virtually every court decision and constitutional argument over same-gender marriage say that marriage is 1) really valuable for adults and 2) really critical for children’s well-being. Why then deny it to 3 or 4 million Americans because they’re gay? And why punish hundreds of thousands of children by denying them the right to have married parents?