Quote:
Originally Posted by hip hop bunny hop
Thank you for remembering this is about the material benefits of state recognized marriage.
In regards to the underlined; if that's you're line of argument, why offer anyone benefits for being married? Not being married doesn't harm anyone else, so why should those who are not married pay higher taxes, be burdened with unfavorable loan rates, unfavorable car insurance rates, etc.?
The arguments that justified these unfavorable conditions were primarily related to (1) increased reproductive rates of married couples, & (2) the improved outcomes of children from married couples. But do these arguments still make sense if you're going to extend marriage benefits to same sex couples?
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Of course those arguments don't make sense in context with whether same sex couples are going to be fulfilling the purpose of (1), but if that was a necessary prerequisite at this point, then it seems to me there would be laws that actually require there be a pay-in to that original reasoning from each couple gaining the material benefits. Since that's obviously not the case, then it stands to reason that the system isn't being harmed by those that don't.
As to whether there should be material benefits at all, regardless of the situation, that's another topic. But, as it stands, there are... and as long as there are people marrying into those benefits with no prerequisites that would contribute to the reasoning behind them other than a statistical likelihood that is more than well off as it stands, considering the world is still full of heterosexuals and also full of people capable of raising a child whether it's theirs or not, then I don't see why a prerequisite of gender needs to be present if based solely on statistics.
Anyway, I don't think the issue (to people wanting to become married to a same-sex partner, and those that support it) is as much about material benefits as it is about acceptance and recognition as wed couples with the same status that other couples enjoy. I could be wrong, but it seems to me more of a societal issue that's being contested, rather than one of hard numbers.