Many forces are attacking marriage in New York State. These forces are promoting "Marriage" for same-sex couples (or the counterfeit equivalent under pseudonyms such as "civil unions" or "domestic partnerships ") as an extension of tolerance, equality and civil rights. All these devices are really wedges designed to overturn traditional sexual morality and to win official affirmation, celebration, subsidization and solemnization of behavior that is harmful to the people who engage in same-sex relationships and to society as a whole. The majority of the citizens of New York State view same-sex marriages as morally wrong. In 1996, the US Congress passed the federal Defense of Marriage Act that established two things. (1) It declared that no state shall be required to give effect to a law of any other state with respect to a same-sex marriage. (2) It defined the words “marriage” (the legal union of a man and a woman); and “spouse” (a member of the opposite sex) for the purposes of Federal law. Since 1996, Forty-three states have passed Defense of Marriage Acts or Constitutional protections. Because it has not done so, New York State must now face the battle for marriage. For the well being of society, legislators must act to affirm marriage by passing a Defense of Marriage Act. The legislature, not the courts, should define marriage. To prevent the creation of government- imposed counterfeit “marriages” by any name, legislators should consider the following concerns.

• Marriage is of such importance that it is uniquely protected in the law and culture. No civilization can survive without it, and the destruction of marriage by any means is a contributing factor in nations that have faded into history.
• Marriage is the union of the two sexes, not just the union of two people. It is the union of two families, providing the optimal environment for raising children.
• Marriage encourages the sexes to complement each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Even the most successful homosexual relationships, at best, mimic marriage.
• Marriage is the union for the purpose of natural reproduction of the human race. Only a man and a woman can accomplish this. Even childless marriages are a social anchor for children.
• It is wrong to create fatherless or motherless families by design. Same-sex marriages have more to do with the desires of adults than the needs of children. Human experience and a vast body of social science research show that children do best in married, mother-father households.

• Marriage laws are not discriminatory. Marriage is open to all adults, subject to age and blood relation parameters. As with any acquired status, the applicant must meet minimal requirements, which in terms of marriage, means finding an opposite-sex spouse. Same-sex partners do not qualify. To put it another way, clerks will not issue dog licenses to cats, and it is not out of “bigotry” toward cats.
• Homosexual activists incorrectly say they need legal status so they can visit their partners in hospitals, etc. Hospitals do not restrict visitation except in very rare instances. Anyone, including homosexuals, can use legal instruments such as power of attorney, wills, etc. to share property, designate heirs, dictate hospital visitors and give authority for medical decisions.
• Unlike with race or ethnicity, homosexuality is in no way immutable or genetically determined. It is a chosen behavior. People need not embrace unnatural feelings. Many homosexuals have overcome “gay” desires, and some lead heterosexual lives, including getting married and having children.
• Religious Freedom is at stake. Requiring citizens to sanction or subsidize homosexual relationships violates the freedom of conscience of millions of Christians, Jews, Muslims and others who believe marriage is the union of the two sexes.

• The definition of what marriage is will be destroyed. For example, if you declare that, because it has similar properties, grape juice must be labeled identically to wine, you have destroyed the definitions of both grape juice and wine. The term marriage refers specifically to the joining of two people of the opposite sex. When that is lost, the term marriage becomes meaningless.
• The depravity of homosexuality will spread. Young people will be encouraged to experiment with their sexual feelings and discouraged from overcoming their base desires.
• Divorce will increase. Homosexual relationships, which usually lack both permanence and fidelity, are unlikely to change to fit the traditional model of lifelong, faithful marriage. Instead, society's expectations of marriage will change in response to the homosexual model, weakening the institution of marriage. Some homosexual activists have acknowledged that they intend to use marriage mainly as a way to radically shift society's entire conception of sexual morality.
• Businesses that decline to recognize non-marital relationships will increasingly be punished through loss of contracts and legal action. This is already occurring in parts of New York State.
• Other groups, such as bisexuals and polygamists, will demand the right to redefine marriage to suit their own proclivities. Once the standard the one-man and one-woman marriage is broken, there is no logical stopping point.