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Challenge #2: Unequal Rights? (Part 2)

One concern is that same-sex couples don’t have the same rights as heterosexual couples.

Same-sex couples don’t have the same rights in terms of health insurance, inheritance, hospital visits, etc. because the purpose that relationship serves is not equal to that of a heterosexual married couple.

A rule of justice is to treat equals equally. The question is not whether homosexual individuals are equal to heterosexual individuals, but whether same-sex couples are equal to heterosexual couples of a certain type with regards to the policy concern of marriage.

The answer is that they’re not. Things like health insurance, inheritance rights, and hospital visitations are all tied to the natural function of families. Mothers and fathers have kids and families. Yes, there have been some variations on that, but largely, our culture has adapted to help strengthen that unit. Therefore, you have inheritance rights. Mom and kids are included on health policies in case something happens to the primary breadwinner. None of that applies in the same way, neither to same-sex unions (as in domestic partnerships), nor to any kind of relationship other than natural marriage.

Other kinds of relationships, though they may be significant, valuable, and meaningful to the parties involved, have no bearing on the public policy question of why the government privileges, protects, and regulates the natural marriage relationship. The government responds to help aspects inherent to the natural family relationship.

When there are unique benefits, it’s because there are unique purposes. The natural family relationship headed by a long-term, monogamous, heterosexual union as a rule, as a group, and by nature, produce the next generation. Since that relationship serves a unique purpose, it has unique benefits.