The Gay Marriage Tug-of-War

It doesn't require individual states to adopt the decision or ban states from allowing same-sex marriage (Same-Sex Marriage). .
             Civil unions are not equivalent to marriages. "Civil unions and domestic partnerships do not provide all the legal, economic and social benefits of marriage. They foster a separate but equal status for gays and lesbians, a concept the Supreme Court ruled long ago is never equal"" (Kafka 27). 1,138 benefits are allowed to married couples, couples with civil unions only see about half of those benefits (Kafka 25). .
             Some opponents of gay marriage argue that the government gives married couples benefits to encourage them to have children and build families (Kafka 30). The children help society by keeping it healthy and growing; so for this reason the government doesn't have any interest in giving benefits to gay couples since their relationships won't result in children (Kafka 30). It is true that homosexual couples can't have children of their own in the traditional sense, but they can have children through adoption or surrogacy. Moreover the government gives benefits to all heterosexual couples regardless of if they are capable or willing to have children (Kafka 30). The government doesn't require a promise to have children to issue a marriage license; so this isn't a valid argument against allowing gay marriages. .
             A CNN poll was taken after Massachusetts legalized gay marriage. Fifty-Eight percent of the people that participated in this poll were opposed to a constitutional ban on gay marriage (Kafka 37). Legal experts pointed out that this was probably because historically constitutional amendments have ensured equal rights whereas this amendment would deny homosexuals the right to marry (Kafka 38). "Even many Americans who are skittish about gay marriage do not want to enshrine intolerance as one of the nation's fundamental principles"" (Kafka 38). This shows that people who don't agree with gay marriage still think that gay couples still have the same rights as heterosexual couples.