Why was same-sex marriage not legal?

Answer 1

Many people believe that same-sex marriage also abolishes the meaning of marriage which throughout recorded history has always been defined as a man and woman companionship.

The idea that same-sex persons can enter into a marriage is a purely modern idea. Comparatively few areas have redefined marriage to include same-sex relationships, but since the ones that have are almost all in nations in North America and Europe, there is a distorted impression that it is common and that areas that have not redefined marriage are hold-outs. Jurisdictions that have redefined marriage to include same-sex unions represent less than 10% of the world's population.

Several reasons that marriage has never included same-sex relationships include:

Marriage creates a foundation for a family unit - with the potential for children. Since humans do not reproduce asexually, same-sex couples have never been able to create children without going outside the couple. Historically marriage implied the potential for parenthood and the responsibilities and obligations that go with it. The two are inseparable. Same-sex relationships are inherently focused on the relationship between the partners without children being part of the equation, thus it never made any sense to impose the structure of a marriage on a relationship that was fundamentally different from the historical pattern.