The natural law argument is rooted in Catholic thought and as it relates to marriage equality, it basically argues that the purpose of marriage is procreation. As the argument goes, society has an interest in perpetuating itself, and the best way to do that and promote stability is to restrict marital recognition to those who are able to procreate naturally. This would obviously prevent a couple of the same sex from being legally recognized.
I remember the moment when I realized this argument would negatively affect me. It was evening. I was in college, studying in my dorm lobby. I was reading one of the articles for my Christian Ethics class. The topic for the week was gay rights, and the article presented this very Catholic natural law argument. Then it hit me: Wait a minute! I can't have children! Does that mean that I shouldn't be allowed to get married, too?
You see, I had recently finished treatment for testicular cancer earlier that year. I have known for over a decade now that it's not possible for me to have children "naturally." I've come to see that having children is not part of my calling, but being married is. See the problem? I knew that kids weren't in the cards when I married my spouse. Should we have been prevented from marrying? The logic fans out to older straight people, too. I have relatives who are currently single and well past or approaching the line in which they could have children "naturally." What if at some point they find someone who they want to spend the rest of their lives together with? Wouldn't this natural law argument exclude them, too?
Now this is not the only or even the best reason to support marriage equality - by how it would potentially affect straight people. There is the crucial component of society recognizing the public commitments two people make to each other. Society has oppressed the LGBTQ community for millennia. A ruling for equality won't be the last or even the most important fight for their rights (i.e. employment and housing non-discrimination, homeless LGBTQ teens, national hate crime legislation, transgender protections while facing incarceration, etc.) We have a long way to go post-marriage equality.
But if the natural law argument is the last remaining defense to justify discrimination against gay and lesbian couples, then it's an argument that they lost with me 13 years ago in a college dorm lobby.
In solidarity,
Timothy Murphy
Executive Director