Some Non-Religious Reasons Discouraging Same-Sex Marriage

What surprised me the most in my limited research on this topic was finding out how many states ban same-sex marriage altogether.  As of June 2011, 41 states prohibit same sex marriage, while just 10 allow marriage or civil unions.  The map below shows gay-friendly states in solid dark and light blue.  Anti-gay states are in dark red, light red, or pink.

   Same-sex marriage^1,2

   Unions granting rights similar to marriage^1,2

   Legislation granting limited/enumerated rights¹

   Same-sex marriages performed elsewhere recognized¹

   No specific prohibition or recognition of same-sex marriages or unions

   Statute bans same-sex marriage

   Constitution bans same-sex marriage²

   Constitution bans same-sex marriage and some or all forms of same-sex unions

¹May include recent laws or court decisions which have created legal recognition of same-sex relationships, but which have not entered into effect yet.
²Same-sex marriage laws in California are complicated; please see the article on Same-sex marriage in California
- Map source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Samesex_marriage_in_USA.svg

I was expecting the map to be mostly light grey because I would have thought the issue too new to be considered by the courts in those states.

In a Reddit post today someone asked whether there are reasonable non-religious arguments against same-sex marriage.  After all, most of what we hear in the news about the issue is some social conservative ranting about the harm it would cause to our society, using religion as a backdrop to substantiate their point of view.

The most logical argument came from a user with the screen name "philoredditor" who pointed to the uncertainty involved in adopting a social change that could have harmful ramifications.

 Another set of good points was written eloquently by "stuckinabarrel" who wrote the following:

As you can see most of the non-religious arguments boil down to an uncertainty about the future, with most concerns being about changes in laws, the effect it would have on children, and the general stability of society that relies heavliy on current social norms to flow smoothly.

I think both religious and non-relgious people who argue against gay marriage are not bigoted, they just want things to stay the way they are.  Unfortunately it is the religious people who are the most vocal and who have spent the most time developing coherent arguments.

Eventually legalized gay marriage will prevail at the federal level because more Americans, especially the younger generation, see few problems with it.  Studies will continue to show the stability of children raised in same-sex households versus single parent households.  And if there is a slippery slope toward polygamy it will be so far down the road as to not be a factor in the decision to legalize gay marriage.

Link to Reddit post:
http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/tcw5j/are_there_any_nonreligious_arguments_against/