Debate arguments

[lioness324]

Hey,
So I am debating in school tomorrow, and my topic is whether marriage should be defined as between a man and a woman. I got the negative, yay. I want to be prepared for arguments against allowing gay marriage, though. But other than the religious view, which probably wouldn't be used in a debate because it wouldn't hold up, I don't really know the arguments very well. And I realize this will help me in the real world as well, when defending my position and my orientation. Could you all help me out a bit? What are some common arguments against gay marriage?

Thanks!

-no where in the constitution does this break the rules, it just supports it, all man created equal and none of that "but its a choice and you choose to stray away from equalness" because there is no evidence supporting choice and if we ARE diffrent then so are the hadicapped but we treat them as equals do we not.
-seperation of church and state if "constitution written on christain principlas"
-Athiests are allowed to marry in churches as well as agnostics and jews who dont practice faith. but not everyone gets married in churches. we have beaches without the priest. marraige is the religous word. Union is the base word for marraige.
-marriage is between consinting adults, animals cannot consent because we have no translator for them and do not understand the idea of marriage.
-prop 8 was banned not by the majority. there are thousands of youth who cannot vote and their view is being seen every time the subject comes up with rising numbers in support of marraige by
the time they register to vote at 18

[lioness324]

no I know all that. I want to be able to anticipate my opponent's arguments, what THEY will say. I'm arguing that gay marriage SHOULD be legal.

[lioness324]

Thanks though ^^

[Wander]

-Homosexuals cannot reproduce together
(Marriage has never been solely about reproduction; even if it were, couples who are infertile, choose not to have kids, or are otherwise incapable of reproducing are still allowed to marry)

-Schools will be forced to teach gay marriage, and churches will be punished if they don't support it
(Same-sex marriage has nothing to do with schools, who don't "teach" any form of marriage anyway; churches are a grey area that are subject more to discrimination laws of their district)

-The sanctity of marriage will be ruined!
(It already has been. Divorce rates of 50%, hour-long celebrity marriages, arranged and forced marriages with no romantic relationship...)

-We don't want to redefine the meaning of the word!
(Again, too late. Political convenience >> social symbol >> love marriages >> interracial marriages. Marriage has shifted around so many times even before the major religions were formed, this argument is meaningless.)

-Children will grow up confused without a mommy or daddy
(Countless studies have been done in this field, and all of them have shown that children of same-sex couples grow up just as healthy and socially developed as kids of heterosexual couples)

-Gay parents are more likely to raise gay kids
(As if that's a bad thing; those same studies proved this false, and who are the ones having all the gay kids in the first place? Straight people.)

[Maddy]

Wander's got a lot of them. Also, some people argue that allowing gay marriage will open the door for incestuous marriage, marriage between adults and children, marriage to animals, etc.