# Arguments against SSM not in any way based on faith or tradition? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 2, 2013, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arguments-against-ssm-not-in-any-way-based-on-faith-or-tradition/662488 "2013-07-02T22:29:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2013, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arguments-against-ssm-not-in-any-way-based-on-faith-or-tradition/662488/101 "2013-07-05T09:21:42Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > [shrug] Well, allowing SSM won’t make women any poorer, and will make some lesbian couples slightly more materially comfortable. In fact, allowing SSM will have a huge financial benefit (or rather prevent a huge financial disbenefit) for many same-sex couples and their children. I strongly encourage you to read this article by the Avatar of Gayness himself Dan Savage: [I Can Die Now](http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/i-can-die-now/Content?oid=17152673) > [@](#): > > Because we weren’t married in the eyes of the federal government—because of Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act—Terry, who has been a stay-at-home parent for more than a dozen years, wouldn’t be able to collect Social Security survivor benefits, something he would be entitled to if we were an opposite-sex married couple. He would also face a crushing federal tax burden, taxes he wouldn’t have to pay if Terry were my wife. > > We talked to a tax lawyer about it once. She had two words of advice for me: “Don’t die.” > > For 15 years, this weighed on me. If I died, my husband would be made to suffer. If I died, my son would be made to suffer. Parents are supposed to protect their children from harm, and here was this thing—DOMA—that I couldn’t protect him from. If something happened to me, DOMA would impoverish my husband and son. Terry and D.J. would lose the house. They would lose everything. ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arguments-against-ssm-not-in-any-way-based-on-faith-or-tradition/662488/102 "2013-07-08T21:49:48Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > Think of Marcus Aurelius " This thing, what is it in itself, in its own constitution? What is its substance and material? And what its causal nature [or form]? And what is it doing in the world? And how long does it subsist?" Think of Sartre, “Existence preceeds essence.” > [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > What’s that, poverty that won’t ask for directions? snicker 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arguments-against-ssm-not-in-any-way-based-on-faith-or-tradition/662488/103 "2013-07-09T04:24:08Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > 😕 I thought all sexually transmitted diseases were tested for. No, only some diseases. And only in some states. (I even think there are some states that don’t test for any diseases.) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arguments-against-ssm-not-in-any-way-based-on-faith-or-tradition/662488/104 "2013-07-09T04:52:33Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > No, only some diseases. > And only in some states. (I even think there are some states that don’t test for any diseases.) NY v. Md. See [_Guys and Dolls_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guys_And_Dolls). ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arguments-against-ssm-not-in-any-way-based-on-faith-or-tradition/662488/105 "2013-07-09T06:17:42Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > I even think there are some states that don’t test for any diseases. Nearly all states have gotten rid of their blood test requirements. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arguments-against-ssm-not-in-any-way-based-on-faith-or-tradition/662488.md?page=5)