A House Divided

One of the main arguments used by those who oppose gay marriage is that it's unnecessary; that gay couples are free to draw up their own legal agreements between themselves through Power of Attorney contracts and other legal methods.

Right. Do you really think that the religious right will stop at banning marriage?

Already a Virginia law passed that calls into question the ability of any "marriage-like" contracts between same sex couples to stand. And then there are little micro-initiatives like this one in Utah:

Draper Republican Rep. LaVar Christensen's HB148 stems from a lesbian partner's custody battle before the Utah Supreme Court. In that still-pending case, a district court judge awarded visitation to the former lesbian partner of the child's biological mother. Under Christensen's legislation, unmarried heterosexual or gay couples could not make custody agreements. That right would be reserved for married couples. In a legal battle, a court could not award custody or visitation against the biological parent's wishes.

Little by little they will chip away in the states where they can, rolling back rights for gays, and in this case, unmarried straight people as well. The argument is the same for overturning Roe V Wade; to outlaw abortion in just the conservative states first, since they know they can't do it nationwide. If this keeps up, we'll end up with a sexual Mason-Dixon line. Andrew Sullivan's states-rights experimentation arguments aside, this is not a good idea, and not just for those unfortunate enough to be born in states with Senators like LaVar Christensen. It's bad for all of us, because bigotry is never content to rest. It must flourish.