PRO CON

homosexuality is not a choice but an innate The most common objection usually raised
biological characteristic worthy of constitutional against homosexuality/same-sex marriage is that it
protection. is unnatural.

Autonomy, nonmaleficence, justice, fidelity. In Medieval Europe, it was Thomas Aquinas

(1225–1274) who—from a Catholic background
Nursing Home Reform Act —offered the next major treatment of
• Under the NHRA’s regulations, a “resident has homosexuality, calling it the most sinful species
the right to be free of interference, coercion, of lust. He did so in the context of natural law—a
discrimination, and reprisal from the facility in law defined in terms of the goals said to be
exercising his or her rights.” inherent in human life. In his Summa
• Federal guidelines for this right instruct Theologiae, he describes homosexuality as a
government inspectors to “[p]ay close attention to violation of animal nature and of the order of
resident or staff remarks and staff behavior that sexual acts generally.
may represent deliberate actions to promote or to
limit a resident’s autonomy or choice, particularly
in ways that affect independent functioning.”
UTILITARIAN VIEW
According to utilitarianism, an action is morally UTILITARIAN VIEW
right if it results in more beneficial consequences Kant argued that homosexuality was wrong
than harmful ones for everyone affected.  because it could not function as a universally
accepted practice. Applied to everyone, the
sterility of homosexuality would put an end to the
In striking contrast to Kant, the British utilitarian birth of children. Kant also found same-sex erotic
philosopher Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832) came behavior especially degrading to the parties
to almost the opposite conclusion about the involved.
morality of homosexuality. In works that were not
published in his lifetime, he defended
homosexuality for those inclined to it, saying it
gives them pleasure and leads to happiness. In
keeping with his utilitarian view that actions
should be judged in terms of their capacity to
contribute to human happiness through pleasure,
Bentham thought it undeniable that homosexuality
was one way to human pleasure.
- He was convinced, too, that the forces of
heterosexual lust were stronger than any
threat to the birth rate that homosexuality
might pose.

Another utilitarian philosopher, John Stuart

Mill (1806–1873), also believed that actions were
moral to the extent that they promoted happiness.
Given that adults are ordinarily the best judges of
what makes them happy
Unless their behavior harms others—as in rape, Homosexuality has been considered a form of
for example—men and women should be able to mental illness, morally wrong and socially
pursue same-sex partners without social deviant. 
interference.
 the Napoleonic Code, put in place in 1804. In that
code there was no explicit mention of Christianity:
homosexuality, only of criminalization of As Jesus said in Mark 10:6-8 that He quoted
involuntary and public sexual crimes, regardless from Genesis 2:24: “From the beginning of
of the sex of the parties involved creation, God made them male and female.
In 1957, in England, the Committee on For this cause, a man shall leave his father
Homosexual Offenses and Prostitution issued a and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and
report, commonly known as the Wolfenden
the two shall become one flesh…” This
Report, that recommended that the United
Kingdom decriminalize consensual "sodomy" expresses Jesus’ understanding of the divine
among adults. In coming to this conclusion, it purpose of the union and His commandment
drew heavily on notions of privacy and protection for the design of marriage.
from social intrusion.
- Britain did decriminalize d. Aquinas offers a very specific
homosexuality among adults. argument for his procreation-only view
of sex, based on the natural purpose of
body parts. The various parts of our
 LGBT youth are more four times more likely to bodies have precise aims, he argues, and
seriously attempt suicide than their non-LGBT sex organs have the clear function of
counterparts (Center for Disease Control), and as
many as 40% of homeless youth identify
facilitating reproduction through sexual
themselves as LGBT (Williams Institute). intercourse:
 
 D. we regularly use parts of our bodies for To use our sex organs for purposes other than
purposes other than their naturally-intended reproduction, then, is a misuse of that part of our
function. We use our ears to hold up our glasses, body. So too with the natural purpose of semen:
which have nothing to do with their purpose of it is there for reproduction, and any emission of it
hearing sounds. We use our teeth for chewing without that purpose in mind is a sin against
gum, which does not facilitate food consumption. nature
We do not consider any of these activities
immoral, so why is it immoral if we use our sex
organs for purposes other than procreation? 

The nature entitles anyone, male or female, to

have sex-on-demand with anyone we desire, and
any one sexual partner is as good as another,
irrespective of age, gender, and even species. De
Sade’s position on sex is grounded in an unusual
version of natural law theory. For De Sade,
natural instincts determine the personal
pleasures in which we may rightfully indulge.
Sexual inclinations are primarily there to give us
pleasure, and nature does not care how we act
out on that instinct, as long as we enjoy it.
- About six-in-ten Americans (62%) MARRIAGE
now say they favor allowing gays and The traditional concept of marriage has a place in
lesbians to marry legally. (For more the law for the purpose of supporting the
on views of same-sex marriage, exclusivity and faithfulness of those biological
see: “Support for Same-Sex relationships that result in children.
Marriage Grows, Even Among
Groups That Had Been In June 2006, the European Court ruled that the
Skeptical,” released June 26, 2017.) region's human rights convention "did not oblige a
State to grant a same-sex couple access to
STANDARDS OF CARE marriage" as marriage has "deep-rooted social and
cultural connotations."
• WPATH: World Professional Association for
Transgender In other words, this ruling acknowledges that no
• Health Equality Index by HRC one is disadvantaged when a society retains a
• LGBT Health Laws distinctive name for these lifelong, faithful,
• Department of Health exclusive and potentially procreative relationships
• The Joint Commission between men and women which are oriented
• Callen-Lorde Community Center Revised towards securing cognitively and spiritually the
Guidelines (2012) biological relationship that may result in the
• USCF Center of Excellence (2009) bearing and nurturing of children.
• Fenway Institute LGBT Health Guide (2007)
1. Marriage protects the rights of the children
- If children happen to be in a same-sex household
they will always have come from outside that
relationship, either through an earlier relationship
While people are divided over the morality of or through the use of some other biological parent
homosexuality, there is growing recognition of and technology.
the biological factors driving homosexual If the law were to be changed so that marriage
orientation. In the spirit of toleration, the most included same-sex relationships, then marriage
important concession is the decriminalization of would no longer be about children. It would be
homosexuality and legalization of same-sex about adults only.
marriage, and this has now been done. Thus, 2. Marriage links a mother and a father.
traditionalists can still disapprove of these - The significance of the current legal concept of
marriage is about securing the relationship of the
changes if they so choose, yet homosexuals are
child to both a mother and a father. Marriage
protected by law.
involves the couple committing to be parents
-  A critical question is whether together through their love for each other. If you
homosexual orientation is caused by take that out of the meaning of marriage it
biological mechanisms or mere social becomes just like any other relationship, of
conditioning, or both. There appears meaning to the couple, but of no direct relevance
to be two distinct biological factors to anyone else.
related to homosexuality, the first is 3. Marriage is a union of difference
genetics. Genetic experiments with
fruit flies have identified a group of The traditional concept of marriage is consistently
genes that trigger homosexual found across cultures throughout history. This is
courtship and mating. The search for not to say matters such as customs and rituals
similar genes in humans is still have not changed over time. It is simply to say
ongoing, but patterns of homosexual that marriage has always been understood in every
society throughout recorded human history as
orientation within family trees,
being between a man and a woman
particularly on the mother’s side,
suggest that there are genetic 4. Children need marriage
switches involved. The second
biological factor is not strictly Given the marital relationship's natural orientation
genetic, but rather epigenetic to children, it is not surprising that, according to
involving chromosomal changes the best available sociological evidence, children
during fetal development where the fare best on virtually every indicator of wellbeing
mother’s physiology feminizes the when reared by their wedded biological parents.
brains of her male fetuses. 
Studies that allow for other relevant factors ,
According to the American
including poverty and even genetics, suggest that
Psychological Association (APA), children reared in intact homes fare best on the
  following measures:
human beings cannot choose to be
either gay or straight. For most > Educational achievement: literacy and
graduation rates;
people, sexual orientation
emerges in early adolescence > Emotional health: rates of anxiety, depression,
without any prior sexual substance abuse, and suicide;
experience. Although we can
> Familial and sexual development: strong sense
choose whether to act on our of identity, timing of onset of puberty, rates of
feelings, psychologists do not teen and out-of-wedlock pregnancy, and rates of
consider sexual orientation to be a sexual abuse; and
conscious choice that can be
> Child and adult behaviour: rates of aggression,
voluntarily changed. attention deficit disorder, delinquency and
- incarceration.

5. Revising marriage would cause harm  

- same-sex marriage harms no-one, and that to
deny gay and lesbian couples marriage is a denial
of "natural justice." But under these proposals,
marriage would be totally changed. Marriage
would be something else. It would place adult
sexual choice and emotional commitment at the
center. In other words, marriage would not be
about securing the rights of children, but rather
 meeting the needs of adults.
6. In respect of the argument around ending
discrimination, it is wrong and misleading to
depict the case for same-sex marriage as a case
for ending discrimination or for equal legal
recognition of relationships.
No one is done a real injustice when we positively
honour and uphold marriage as currently
understood. We currently honour those men and
women who are united in lifelong,
complementary, faithful and procreative
relationships by calling them "married." Yes,
there is "a growing list of countries that allow
same-sex couples to marry including the
Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, Spain, Canada
and South Africa." This is hardly a formidable list
given there are 192 member countries of the
United Nations.

In June 2006, the European Court ruled that the

region's human rights convention "did not oblige a
State to grant a same-sex couple access to
marriage" as marriage has "deep-rooted social and
cultural connotations."

In other words, this ruling acknowledges that no

one is disadvantaged when a society retains a
distinctive name for these lifelong, faithful,
exclusive and potentially procreative relationships
between men and women which are oriented
towards securing cognitively and spiritually the
biological relationship that may result in the
bearing and nurturing of children.