All marriages are mixed marriages - Chantal Saperstein

Can someone please give me a valid, secular reason why homosexual people should not be allowed to get married? I have yet to find one, though I am more than willing to address some of the invalid reasons people have proposed.

1. Something about it corrupting the American family: First of all, just because you tell them they can't get married they aren't just going to suddenly go out, marry people of the opposite sex and have their 2.5 children. You're just going to keep them from the benefits that married couples have even while they live as all married couples do. Second - how about that 50% divorce rate. Don't you think that has more baring on the American family, corrupted or not? Isn't that much closer to illegitimating love and family? Why don't we just make divorce illegal?

2. It is uncomfortable and awkward for children to go to school saying that they have two dads or two moms. You know what else is uncomfortable for children? An affinity for reading rather than playing outside. Braces. Glasses. Parents with AIDS. Parents who are criminals. Living in a smaller house than your friends. Being unable to answer a question in front of your class. Being the only African American child in an all white class. Having a speech impediment. Guess what people, kids are always going to feel awkward and out of place. Its part of being a kid. Having two dads or two moms is only one more thing in a long list of things that make children feel uncomfortable.

Religion has no place in government. Even if 99% of the country were Christian, it wouldn't be fair for them to legislate their values over that other 1%. No one is saying that you can't be a practicing Christian. But I don't necessarily want to live by your religious standards, whatever they may be. And I shouldn't have to. Nor should anyone else, be they homosexual or straight. The government shouldn't be in the business of defining marriage. Marriage is a religious ceremony and if churches want to refuse to marry gay people, fine. That's their perogative and the government shouldn't infringe on that either. But every "marriage" should be a civil union under the law. All people, be they the same gender or not, should have the same rights as all other couples who live under a civil union.

This isn't a hard concept to understand. We're all people. Everyone does things that other people don't approve of. We can't legislate love. We can't legislate people's personal lives. We can't determine who can be in a relationship with you. And if you want to be joined to someone under the law, then you should be allowed to - visitation rights, social security and all. We are all human. First and foremost, we should start there.