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Jonathan Krive

Teen Activist & National Debate Team Star
Posted July 12, 2003

Homosexual Marriage
How far will it go?

The debate over homosexual marriage has polarized our society more than any other subject this past year. Unfortunately, few people are well informed and, in reality, have no basis for their position. If we are to examine the subject of homosexual marriage, we must establish some facts about marriage. Let’s examine the constitutional aspect of marriage.

We must realize that you cannot marry whomever you love. In order to get married you must meet certain qualifications. This statement might sound outrageous to you, but think about it for a moment. We all recognize that an adult man cannot marry a young girl; likewise, an adult woman cannot marry a young boy. Under most circumstances, you must be a legal adult to get married. Another restriction on marriage is how many people you can marry. An article published by the Washington Blade, a pro-homosexual newspaper, February 13, 2004, reported that, “A lawsuit filed [in the Utah District Court] cites the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling last year (Lawrence v. Texas) overturning state sodomy laws as grounds for striking down Utah’s ban against polygamy.” Even if you claim you love 4 or 5 different people, you are only allowed to marry one of them. Another restriction is that your spouse must not be closely related to you. A brother and sister, or uncle and niece, are prohibited from marrying each other. Obviously your spouse must be human, although, some people are even trying change that. “According to MegaStar News, January 14, 2001, “Couch potato Mitch Hallen loves watching his television so much that he’s married it.”

We just established four criteria on marriage, age, number of people, relations, and species. Some other criteria are consent, and that your spouse must be of the opposite sex. As you can see, no one has a Constitutional right to get married to the person they love if that marriage violates certain criteria. The Constitution does grant a right to get married, however, you must meet certain criteria. Homosexuals have the same civil rights that everyone else has. A homosexual man has the same right to marry a woman that a heterosexual man has; and a homosexual woman has the same right to marry a man that a heterosexual woman has.

If we were to allow for homosexual marriage, we would be granting a special right. No person is permitted to marry someone of the same sex, regardless if you are heterosexual or homosexual. Sanctioning gay marriage would fundamentally redefine marriage: we must remove one half of traditional marriage, either the man, or the woman.

People often ask, “Why would it be bad to allow for gay marriage?” Let’s now explore the implications of gay marriage.

1. Any form of marriage is acceptable
Once we redefine marriage to incorporate same-sex marriage, we can redefine it again. If we sanction gay marriage, then we must also ask the question, what is morally wrong with polygamy. We could argue that we shouldn’t discriminate on basis of number. We could also allow for incest, because we shouldn’t discriminate on the basis of whom you are related to. Once we take the step of redefining marriage, we have every moral justification to include anyone who wants to get married to anything.

2. State-sanctioned fatherless or motherless families
The most fundamental institution of society is the family. Within the past fifty years, the family has been under attack. Almost 50% of children are born out of wedlock, meaning that many kids grow up without a mother or without a father. While single parent families happen frequently, you would probably agree that having a loving father AND mother is the best situation. The government does not encourage single parent families. With homosexual marriage, the government is now condoning the raising of a child being raised in a family without a father, or without a mother.

3. Unstable families for children
Homosexuals will want to have the same rights as heterosexuals when it comes to having children. Because gays cannot have natural children, they will use either surrogate mothers, or adopt children. Lets take a statistical look at the homosexual lifestyle: A study of homosexual men in the Netherlands published in the journal AIDS found that the "duration of steady partnerships" was 1.5 years and that men with a steady partner had an average of eight sexual partners per year. (Maria Xiridou, et al, "The Contribution of Steady and Casual Partnerships to the Incidence of HIV Infection among Homosexual Men in Amsterdam," AIDS 17 (2003)) Even though homosexual marriage is legal in the Netherlands, homosexuals still live a promiscuous lifestyle. According to the Center for Disease Control, “Homosexuals comprise 52 percent of all AIDS cases. ("HIV and Its Transmission," Divisions of HIV/AIDS Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, January 31, 2001.)

When we take a look at the Netherlands, we find that once homosexual marriage was legalized, few homosexuals actually got married. The Office of Legislative Research reported that, “As of October 2002, only 2.8 percent out of an estimated homosexual and lesbian population of 242,000, have registered their unions as "married." ("OLR Backgrounder: Legal Recognition of Same-sex Partnerships," OLR Research Report (October 9, 2002))

No justification exists for extending special rights to same-sex couples to get married. In fact, there are many valid reasons to oppose same-sex marriage. The government should not sanction this form of sexual deviancy by redefining the definition of marriage.

© Jonathan Krive 2004

Jonathan Krive is an 18 year old Certified Legal Assistant, national debate team star, and accomplished pianist. Having met the legal requirements for high school graduation at age 15, Jonathan is a graduate of the Oak Brook College of Law Paralegal School. The 2004 winner of the National Right to Life Oratorical Contest competing against state winners of 20 other states, he has competed in the National Christian Forensics and Communications Association for four years, winning Original Oratory at both the 2002 and 2003 NCFCA National Tournament, and ranking as one of four competitors who have won two years consecutively. He has also ranked 3rd place in debate in the nation. A leader amongst his peers, Jonathan works to equip his generation to take their role in the nation, as a debate coach, on campaigns of young candidates, and as a leader in Conservative Clubs of America and Teen Eagles. Jonathan is currently considering one of several offered internships at California's State Capitol. Contact: jkrive@comcast.net