Why Same-Sex Couples Possess No Conjugal Rights
by Joseph Arias, Crisis Magazine:
Often in discussions on whether the term “marriage” should be reserved for relationships between persons of opposite sex, advocates for same-sex “marriage” claim that there is no distinguishing characteristic in male/female commitments that would make only those commitments truly marital. The obvious response that children come only from opposite sex relationships is quickly dismissed since few are willing to deny that elderly or otherwise infertile men and women can truly marry as much as the young and fertile. Since everyone accepts the infertile male/female couple, only bigotry or animus can be at the root of the refusal to recognize as marital the commitments between persons of the same sex.
Indeed, it is argued, two men or two women are just as capable of fulfilling the commitment, expressed in one traditional formulation, “to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until death do us part.” Is there anything implied in that commitment that only opposite sex couples can accomplish?
If there is something that only opposite sex couples can do, and which could be a necessary condition for a valid marriage, recognizing that reality could go a long way in responding to the charges of irrationality and bigotry. I believe there is an identifiable, necessary condition for any valid marriage that can be stated in a relatively simple manner, and which provides a rational principle that can be used to respond to various objections from proponents of same-sex “marriage.”
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