Debunking the Four NO Arguments

Jeremy Atkin
Aug 23, 2017 · 3 min read

Over the past couple of of weeks, various articles have been published which lay out the NO case without resorting to slurs. In an attempt to get out of the echo-chamber I’ve read them with interest. From my reading, it seems that there are four main reasons given to vote NO. In no particular order they are:

  • Procreation requires a male and a female and the ideal situation for a child is living with their biological parents. Gay marriage threatens this and so should remain illegal. i.e. The “think of the children” argument.
  • Legalising gay marriage will force people to act in a way which is contrary to their religion. i.e. The “religious freedom” argument
  • Legalising gay marriage is just the first step in a subversive campaign being driven by a small number of left-wing agitators to fundamentally change society as we know it. If we allow gay marriage there is no way of knowing what will happen next so we should stop it while we have the chance. i.e. The “slippery slope” argument.
  • Gay marriage is a fringe issue that impacts an insignificant number of people in a largely symbolic way — society has more pressing issues to focus on — why are we even talking about this? i.e. The “bigger fish to fry” argument

If you come at them with a particular world view, all of these reasons kind of make sense. However if you dig a little deeper, the logic breaks down so without further ado here are my counter-arguments.

Think of the Children

Regardless of your views on the various studies showing outcomes for kids with same-sex parents, this argument is simply irrelevant to the topic of gay marriage. Gay couples can already adopt children and voting against gay marriage won’t change this. Staunch believers in biology may well argue that gay couples should be allowed to have kids, but this is simply not the same question as to whether they should be allowed to get married or not.

Protect Religious Freedom

There are a couple of salient points here. Firstly, both sides of politics have publicly stated that religious freedom provisions will be included in the law. No religious figure will be forced to solemnise a same-sex marriage if they don’t want to. Secondly and more importantly, we live in a secular society and have made a collective decision that equality fundamentally supersedes religious beliefs. Strictly adhering to the teachings of the Old Testament would be wildly illegal in modern society and no-one suggests any different. This, in part is why everyone (especially conservatives) is so opposed to the imposition of Sharia Law. Why should gay marriage be any different?

The Slippery Slope

If gay marriage really were some sort of slippery slope, then it must be the case that countries that have legalised gay marriage are sliding into decay and wishing that they had saved themselves while they had the chance. Thankfully for us — there are plenty of examples to look at from around the world so we can actually check whether this is the case or not.

Gay marriage is now legal in part or all of the following countries: Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, the UK, the US and Uruguay. 22 countries in all from all around the world.

What has happened in those countries? Gay people have gotten married. And life has carried on. There is no slippery slope, just a lot of baseless fear-mongering.

There are bigger fish to fry

If you don’t think marriage equality is an issue worth spending time on , then this is actually a really strong reason to vote YES. Whether you like it or not, society has made the decision to debate gay marriage. Voting NO, or not voting at all is not gonna change that.

If the NO vote prevails, this issue is not going away. It’ll linger over Parliament through to the next election where it will again be a major issue. The only way to get this issue out of the way and move onto other things is to vote YES.

In Summary

Vote YES. That is all.

Let me know what you think

Jez

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Jeremy Atkin

Written by

All views are my own

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