If You Want Gay Marriage, You Need To Fight For Gay Adoption

The Family Foundation is pushing for legislation in Kentucky to ban gay adoption, to “ensure that children are placed in the best possible homes.“ You may be thinking, who cares? I don’t want kids. 

Let’s face it, there are a lot of gays who don’t want kids. That’s fine. If you don’t want kids you really should not have them. But if you want to get married, you need to fight for gay adoption.

Why? Because there are a very few arguments conservatives use to deny the right to gay marriage. One is the procreation argument. The Right has been using this for centuries. It goes like this: “The purpose of marriage is to create children. God created marriage so mankind would replenish the race. There is no other reason for sex or marriage. That’s also why sex outside of marriage is wrong.”

So, if gays are allowed to adopt, that means the state is condoning gay adoption. If gay adoption is sanctioned by the state, that means the state is saying gays are acceptable parents. If gays are acceptable parents to the state, and if the purpose of marriage is to have (raise) children, then the state has to allow gay marriage. See?

Now, the courts have often taken the procreation argument as fallacious and incongruent with the law. For example, consider this statement by the State’s attorney in the December 2008 Iowa Supreme Court gay marriage case, Varnum vs. Brien:

“By fostering same-sex marriage the state will harm and could defeat its [marriage’s] vital purpose. The state will be teaching that marriage is not necessary.”

The judge in the case questions the State:

“If procreation is a primary basis for marriage, how does recognition of same-sex marriage result in less children born?”

Now, wait for it… wait… here we go. The State responds with the slippery slope (fallacious) arguement:

“It doesn’t. But it could. There is a legitimate fear when the state encourages same-sex marriage, it teaches that marriage is no longer about procreation, it says procreation is not important.”

And the fear-mongering continues:

”In a generation or two after same-sex marriage is legal you will see the fabric of marriage fall apart. In allowing same-sex marriage the state would be saying you do not need a mother or father.”

Ridiculus? Yes. The judge agrees:

“How is this having a real purpose? There are more child born out of wedlock today than ever.”

Let’s hope the Iowa court decides this case correctly, and soon. This ruling could set a precedent for the flood of anti-gay adoption legislation that is coming.

It’s been a few months since Prop 8 passed. We were angry. We got a lot of attention and made a lot of headway in getting people on our side. But now, like new year’s resolutions, we’ve grown complacent. Well, it’s time to wake up and start fighting again.

So, you want to get married but don’t want kids? Get to work anyway. Fight this wave of anti-gay bigotry. For yourself, and for the kids.