Title: Same-Sex Marriage and the Separation of Church and State
Headings: Same-Sex Marriage and the Separation of Church and State
Same-Sex Marriage and the Separation of Church and State
Laurie Garnes Follow
Medical Fee Dispute Resolution Officer (Auditor III) at Texas Department of Insurance
Separation of Church and State: Constitutional or Traditional?
Moral Discourse and the Supreme Court
The Case of Same-Sex Marriage
Public Viewpoint
Conclusion
References
Laurie Garnes
Medical Fee Dispute Resolution Officer (Auditor III) at Texas Department of Insurance
Kenneth F. Grimm
Director of Digital Media, San Angelo Standard-Times | USA TODAY NETWORK

Content: Allowing the government to define marriage in any other way, allows the government to show preference to some religions over others. The next question is whether granting same-sex marriage would somehow harm society. Because same-sex couples already enter long-term, committed, sexually exclusive relationships, any harm should be evident from the existence of these relationships and adding a marriage license would have little, if any effect (Machacek & Fulco, 2004, p. 777). Since the Court has determined that the existence of such relationships is not found to cause harm to society, the argument must be that the granting of the license will do so. Allowing same-sex couples to marry does not discourage heterosexual couples from marrying, nor does it discourage those intending to procreate from doing so (Olson, 2010). It cannot be beneficial to society to demoralize or demean its citizens. By denying equal marriage rights to a certain section of society, this is what is done (Olson, 2010). In societies where same-sex marriage has been accepted, studies have examined the couples to determine the consequences of this legal change. MacIntosh, Reissing & Andruff (2010) found that same-sex couples “embraced the opportunity to be responsible for their partner in all of the legal and social ways that come with marriage and articulated a deep sense of belongingness and feelings of entitlement that had historically been denied to them …” This sense of belonging can only be considered healthy and beneficial to society. Public Viewpoint
The issue of same-sex marriage has been getting more press in recent years.