I don’t know how the United States Supreme Court will eventually rule in the state of Utah’s appeal over the gay marriage question, but in my book, state-sanctioned discrimination has no place in a country where equality and liberty for all are bedrock principles.
Opponents of same-sex marriages frequently assert that such marriages threaten the traditional concept of male-female unions, but that claim defies common sense. Heterosexual spouses are not going to abandon their opposite-sex marriages in droves to become part of same-sex unions. Human sexuality doesn't operate that way. Writing in the mid-year, 2010 edition of the Journal of Comparative Family Studies, researchers Kelly Campbell and David Wright noted that roughly one-fourth of American spouses are unfaithful at some point during their marriages. If those infidelity statistics are true, then the biggest threat to traditional marriages is opposite-sex partners, not the same-sex ones.
I respect the fact that there are many who oppose the concept of same-sex marriages on religious grounds. I would point out, however, that those individuals can remain true to their beliefs by simply marrying opposite-sex partners. What's not fair is forcing homosexuals who do not share their religious belief or sexual orientation to miss-out on the privileges and benefits that a marital relationship affords. Freedom of religious belief is not a license to force others to act in accordance with a believer's religion.
The success of a marriage depends on the bond of commitment, not the sexuality of the partners. The institution of marriage has survived for centuries, not because it was comprised of one man and one woman, but because it was entered into by two individuals with shared affection for each other's well-being and a desire to work together to make a better life. Same-sex marriages are no different, and their success makes the institution of marriage stronger, just like the successful heterosexual ones.
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