What effects might the legalization of same-sex ‘marriage’ have on the institution of matrimony?

For those who advocate the legalization of same-sex marriage, the naysayers seem to be a bunch of cranky killjoys who can’t rest until they have deprived homosexuals of their ‘right’ to marry whom they please. The argument that the legalization of same-sex marriage could have drastic consequences on the institution of marriage and on society as a whole is often met with incredulity. As one voice for same-sex marriage wrote, “How are we to make any sense out of the idea that a legal marriage between John and Frank could have any negative impact upon a legal marriage between Joe and Mary, much less undermine the marriage between Joe and Mary?”

First, the legalization of same-sex marriage amounts to a redefinition of marriage, which no human power has the authority to make. Marriage is not an institution created or owned by the State; rather, it is “written in the very nature of man and woman as they come from the hand of the Creator” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, #1603).

When marriage is no longer legally recognized as a natural and social institution between a man and a woman for the reproduction of the human race, it is reduced to a privatized relationship based primarily on the desires of the partners. The disturbing natural consequences of this redefinition include:

• The removal of the procreative aspect of marriage from its definition, given that the definition is now expanded to include those who cannot reproduce as a couple. The integral connection of marriage with procreation is destroyed.
• Mothers and fathers become unnecessary in terms of their respective roles.
• The good of children in the family becomes a secondary concern to the interests of adults.
• Natural marriage between one man and one woman becomes just one of several options (which could come to include the extension of marriage to “any group of consenting and affectionate adults – including more than two adults”) rather than a vital institution ordered toward the raising of children by one mother and one father and the protection of civilization both now and in the future.

Please visit the Family Research Council’s website to learn more and to see a compelling documentary on “The Problem with Same-Sex Marriage.”