Marriage “equality” is the defining civil rights issue of our time, or so we are told. The proponents of same-sex marriage have explicitly compared their struggle to ending segregation and miscegenation laws. That is to say, marriage is a fundamental right which all people should be able to enjoy regardless of their sexual orientation. However, in the rush to overturn an institution which predates civilization itself, the consequences of this decision are largely ignored.
“He created them male and female and blessed them.” Genesis 5:2
Tax returns are due next week, which is a potent reminder of just what is at stake. One of the many arguments in favor of same-sex marriage is that gay and lesbian couples should enjoy the same tax benefits as heterosexuals. Homosexuals should be careful what they wish for, because for many dual-income households, taxes are actually higher than if they were single. The big tax savings for married couples is from having children.
Barring infertility, heterosexuals have the advantage that they can make one child after another whenever they please whereas same-sex couples must go through the lengthy and expensive process of adoption or surrogacy. If marriage is a basic right, any law discriminating in favor of heterosexual marriage would violate that right. On these grounds, any tax benefit for children would have to be unconstitutional because it would unfairly punish same-sex couples.
This is not a slippery slope. This is not even just another argument that same-sex marriage proponents are already using. This is being proposed as a law in California now. Before Hollingsworth v. Perry (Proposition 8) has even been decided, the liberals have already moved on to the next battle. No matter how strenuously proponents of same-sex marriage deny it, marriage is about having children, and the law must recognize this fact one way or the other.
Children are the reason marriage exists. It is through the act of procreation that a man and woman are joined in both body and soul to participate in the miracle of new life. We may be labeled as bigots and intolerant for defending this truth, but any law which recognizes “equality” of same-sex couples will have to contend with this basic fact of our existence. Once marriage is redefined as a right, any distinction of that right will violate the principle of equality which is so bitterly sought today.