Why should same-sex relationships be legalized?

Answer 1

Love can come in any form, not just male and female.

AnswerAt a more basic societal level, it touches on the subject of fairness before the law - in the United States, this concept is called "equal protection", and is founded on the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. In the United States, the principle of Equal Protection states that no law (Federal, State, or local) can treat any two citizens differently for arbitrary reasons. The Supreme Court has interpreted this clause to mean that for basic civil rights (that is, rights which all citizens are entitled to, of which marriage has been declare one), any attempt to curtail them must pass the "strict scrutiny" test: the law must be narrowly tailored in its restriction of the right, the law must have a compelling government interest (that is, there must be a significant measurable societal benefit), and that the law restricting this right is the least restrictive way to achieve this societal benefit.

In current-day arguments around banning same-sex marriage (i.e. forbidding two citizens of the same sex from entering in a marriage), there have been no legal arguments put forth that manage to pass the Strict Scrutiny test. In fact, no substantitive legal argument has even managed to pass the "compelling state interest" portion of the test. Q.E.D., same-sex marriage must be legalized, as forbidding it violates the 14th Amendment.

In summary, as the United States considers equal protection before the law a founding principle, and since marriage is a basic civil right, there is no legally valid argument to forbidding any two consenting adults from entering into a marriage.