Statement: Same-sex Marriage.
Issue: Same-Sex Marriage
Strongly Supports: 3896
Supports: 2604
Neutral: 1713
Opposes: 1388
Strongly Opposes: 2840
Average position: 'Neutral' (based on '12441' opinions)
The legitimacy of marriage between two people depends on how the authoritative definition of marriage is derived. Most of the controversy centers around governmental definitions of marriage, rather than the blessing of same-sex unions by individual religious organizations, which may or may not be recognized as civil marriages.
Gay rights advocates assert that marriage is a civil right since they believe marriage is a fundamentally legal agreement on the governmental level which should not be restricted to opposite-sex couples.
Supporters also argue that the very definition of traditional marriage itself has changed drastically over time; polygamy, formerly a common practice, is illegal in the United States and few people would openly espouse the idea of "wife as chattel."
Opponents assert that marriage is a right, but it is a natural right based on the biological need to procreate. In this view, "marriage" between same-sex couples is not itself a right and can be allowed or disallowed as law decides. Further opponents argue that a change in the definition of marriage to include same gender couples could lead to the breakdown in understanding of what marriage actually is.
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