Same-sex Marriage Debate

I recently got into a debate with another blogger about same-sex marriage. She argued that no one is harmed by a same-sex relationship, ergo we should legalize same-sex marriage. Here is my response:

People who have been affected by the gay movement other than same-sex couples include parents whose children attend public schools, especially in states like Massachusetts. In the words of the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals: "Given that Massachusetts has recognized gay marriage under its state constitution, it is entirely rational for its schools to educate their students regarding that recognition." Ergo, parents who do not believe in gay marriage are being prevented from overseeing or directing the sexual education of their children. (Bruce Hausknecht, "Does Same-sex Marriage Affect My Marriage?")

Second, small business owners are being forced to compromise their deeply held religious convictions. "Jon and Elaine Huguenin are a Christian couple who run a small photography studio in Albuquerque, NM. They declined a request to photograph a same-sex commitment ceremony, based on their religious beliefs about the nature of marriage, and were fined $6,600...In Colorado, a new law known as SB 200 goes a step further and specifies jail time as an additional punishment for religiously minded business owners taking a similar conscience-based position." (ibid)

3. Legalizing gay marriage would weaken the institution of marriage. Lynn D. Wardle wrote this in the Journal of Public Law:
"Including same-sex couples within the institution of marriage will transform the institution of marriage to the detriment of all...In terms of expectations of marital loyalty, stability, relational monogamy, actual infidelity, and promiscuity, the introduction of gay and lesbian relationships into the institution on marriage entails a serious risk of lowering the standards, understanding, expectations and behaviors of marriage for all members of society."

For example, there is a correlation between legalizing same-sex marriage, and attitudes towards marriage. "Using a poll of data reporting interviews with 50,000 in thirty-five nations, [David] Blankenhorn created four categories of countries according to their laws regarding attitudes towards marriage...In nations without gay marriage, people are twice as likely to say married people are happier than in nations with gay marriage, and nearly twice as likely to say that people with children ought to marry...The World Values Survey produced similar results. These two data pools show a stair-step correlations: support for marriage is weakest in nations that have legalized same-sex marriage, stronger in nations that have legalized marriage-equivalent civil unions or partnerships, stronger again in nations that have only a few jurisdictions where same-sex unions are legalized, and strongest by far in nations that do not recognize either same-sex marriage or civil unions." (Lynn D. Wardle, "The Attack on Marriage as the Union of a Man and a Woman")