# Why does this legal argument against gay marriage not hold water (or Astroglide)? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 18, 2013, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-this-legal-argument-against-gay-marriage-not-hold-water-or-astroglide/653286 "2013-03-18T18:37:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2013, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-this-legal-argument-against-gay-marriage-not-hold-water-or-astroglide/653286/21 "2013-03-19T02:30:24Z")
> [@JamesQueue](#): > > Wow, some really good responses. Basically, politics trumps law. The law is for the politically weak. Actually, [it’s the other way around](http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0388_0001_ZO.html), at least in this case. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2013, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-this-legal-argument-against-gay-marriage-not-hold-water-or-astroglide/653286/22 "2013-03-19T03:06:43Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > If straight people can marry anyone they want, I call dibs on Kate Upton. I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m smitten with Jennifer Lawrence, at the moment. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2013, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-this-legal-argument-against-gay-marriage-not-hold-water-or-astroglide/653286/23 "2013-03-19T03:12:57Z")
As others have pointed out, the OP’s thesis that he’s come up with something new just shows that he’s not been paying attention; the argument has been made many times by others. As well, there are at least two other factual errors in the OP: > [@JamesQueue](#): > > … it’s not an issue that I (or most of America for that matter) much care about but since many in the media insist on making it the big issue of the decade… [Since 1998, there have been 30 state constitutional amendments prohibiting same-sex marriage](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._state_constitutional_amendments_banning_same-sex_unions#History), most enacted by referendums. That certainly sounds as if it’s an issue a lot of Americans care about. The media is reporting on a major issue in 30 different states. > [@JamesQueue](#): > > After all, the legal system is technical and almost mechanical. This piece seems to fit. The legal system is the opposite of technical and mechanical. It tries to reflect the society that it regulates, and responds to major social changes as they occur. If people’s attitudes to this issue change, the law will normally change in response. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2013, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-this-legal-argument-against-gay-marriage-not-hold-water-or-astroglide/653286/24 "2013-03-19T14:20:18Z")
The argument _might_ have some validity if there were no significant legal advantages to marriage. Income splitting, family rights in cases of illness, inheritance rights, I could go on. The ban seems to me to obviously violate the equal protection clause. Nonetheless, I predict the court will validate Proposition 8 (states’ rights or something), but may well throw out DOMA (states’ rights or something). Over the next decade California will repeal Proposition 8 and a majority of states (maybe 30, excluding the southern and border states) will allow gay marriage and then a new court might see it my way. ---
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2013, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-this-legal-argument-against-gay-marriage-not-hold-water-or-astroglide/653286/25 "2013-03-19T14:50:31Z")
> [@MandaJo](#): > > And the “astroglide” thing is really offensive. Gay marriage is about a lot more than anal sex. Yeah, there’s also the oral sex. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2013, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-this-legal-argument-against-gay-marriage-not-hold-water-or-astroglide/653286/26 "2013-03-19T15:34:28Z")
Straight people have the right to marry \*who they want \*to marry. Gay people do not. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-this-legal-argument-against-gay-marriage-not-hold-water-or-astroglide/653286.md?page=1)