Because I'm awake and have nothing better to do, I'm going to tackle this list one by one.

MYTH #1
To be against gay marriage is to be a hate-filled bigot.

Irrelevant and not the point. We're talking about the legality of gay marriage. When interracial marriage was finally made lawful in the southern US states, whether people against it were racists or not is completely irrelevant to the ruling.

MYTH #2
Gay people should have the same civil rights as straight people.
...However, it should be remembered that no society in history, even those where homosexual behavior was celebrated (as in ancient Greece), ever broadened the word "marriage" to include gay commitments.

Once again, irrelevant. No society in history had private property, or corporate entity rights similar to those we have now. Terms such as "legal voter" and "person under the law" have been changed and broadened over time.  Societies change and evolve, to hold our past as an unchanging blueprint for our future is pointless.

MYTH #3
Marriage is simply a legal contract between two people.
But this does not change the fact that the institution of marriage itself has almost always implied an openness to children when conception is possible. Also, the complementarity of the two sexes in marriage provides children with an understanding of the differences between maleness and femaleness even when, over time, the distinct roles of men and women have changed.

In this day and age when adoption, surrogacy and in-vitro fertilization is possible, the notion of conception through solely heterosexual marriage is antiquated. The complementarity of the two sexes is not a necessary requirement for children to understand the differences between the sexes, as many children of single parents have clearly demonstrated.

MYTH #4
Children raised by same-sex parents do not suffer any discernible deprivation.

This particular line of reasoning always spikes my bullshiat meter. Since when is possible deprivation of future children a concern when heterosexual marriage is concerned? A convicted sex offender, mass-murderer, thief, adulterer, fraud, domestic abuser can marry anyone they so choose under the law, providing it's someone of the opposite gender. Where is the concern for the future offspring of this individual? Can we deny them the right to marry because their children might experience deprivation? No. So why is such an argument ever mentioned with regards to gay marriage? If anything, since couples who cannot procreate on their own must adopt children, they'll be exposed to much more rigorous standards than those whose sole prerequisites for child bearing involve having the necessary matching chromosomes.

MYTH #5
The acceptance of gay marriage will not influence impressionable young people's sexual orientation.

This is only a concern if you truly believe that there is something wrong with homosexuality. Plus, as many people have questioned, how do all these heterosexual parents keep having gay children?

MYTH #6
Gay marriage demonstrates the same kind of loving commitment as heterosexual marriage.
Here one needs to talk percentages. While adultery does occur in many heterosexual marriages, rarely are these marriages "open" to multiple sexual partners. However, surveys have shown that 95% of homosexual partnerships are intentionally "open" so that outside sexual liaisons are permitted. Moreover, the duration of homosexual partnerships is significantly shorter when compared to heterosexual marriages. Nor can it be demonstrated that by making these homosexual partnerships into "marriages" they will last longer. Where homosexual marriage presently is legal, the same shorter duration seems to be the norm

Irrelevant misdirection. When two people fill out a marriage certificate there isn't a portion titled "How many people have you farked in the last year and how many do you plan to fark in the future?", just as there isn't a section to determine how long you plan to stay married. An open marriage is just as legally binding as one that isn't, all this talk of promiscuity, marriage duration and number of partners is completely irrelevant since they're not conditions or variables applied to heterosexual marriages.

MYTH #7
There is nothing unsafe or unhealthy about gay sex.

Irrelevant. How two married people choose to express themselves sexually has no bearing on the legal definition of marriage.

MYTH #8
Gay marriage will not open the door to plural marriage or polygamy.
As Jewish writer Dennis Prager has argued, the "sexual revolution" initiated by the ancient Hebrews in which one man was to be committed to one woman -- a revolution that was continued, of course, by Christianity -- elevated women from being mere wombs to being persons worthy of dignity, respect, and protection

You mean those marriages so common in the Bible? As for women being persons worthy of dignity, respect and protection under Christianity? Strange that it took secular democratic institutions until the 19th century to grant women rights such as the right to own land, the right to control their own earnings and the right to choose their marriage partner.

MYTH #9
Divergent views about sexual behavior and the nature of marriage will continue to be respected.

What? You mean the nature of marriage that YOU hold sacred?


MYTH #10
Churches and clergy will be exempt from performing gay marriages.

How about we actually consider nations where same sex marriage is legal? Canada, for instance (which has had same-sex marriage since 2003), cannot force a church or denomination to marry same sex couples.

miss diminutive: Because I'm awake and have nothing better to do, I'm going to tackle this list one by one.

You didn't have to do that. The guy had just submitted this as a letter to the editor to the paper and I wanted to share the derp.

Currently the right to civil unions virtually guarantees the same legal rights to gay people as marriage does

Wait, this list has way more than 10 myths

serial_crusher: Currently the right to civil unions virtually guarantees the same legal rights to gay people as marriage does

Wait, this list has way more than 10 myths

About the only things that weren't myths were the 10 things he listed as myths.

Your blog sucks.

/and I'm not allowing Javascript for your site just to read that drivel.

Sure, people truly believe this. The ones that want to discriminate against gays marrying already by and large have convinced themselves that stories from 2000 years old sheepherders and fishermen about sky wizards and a magic zombie son are real. They also have convinced themselves that society never "redefined marriage" before, even though here in America we don't keep and marry our slave girls, and we don't condone raping women in order to force them to marry us.

Its interesting how much in common the anti gay marriage bigots have in common with the Taliban though.

Looks like marriage is an entitlement program for straight people.

Diogenes: Looks like marriage is an entitlement program for straight people.

Gotta do something to encourage them to be responsible for all those "oops" babies.

MYTH #11
The author is not a douchebag.

FACT:
The author is a douchebag.

Reposted for Relevance...

Top Ten Reasons to Make Gay Marriage Illegal

01) Being gay is not natural. Real Americans always reject unnatural things like eyeglasses, polyester, and air conditioning.

02) Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that hanging around tall people will make you tall.

03) Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy behavior. People may even wish to marry their pets because a dog has legal standing and can sign a marriage contract.

04) Straight marriage has been around a long time and hasn't changed at all like many of the principles on which this great country was founded; women are still property, blacks still can't marry whites, and divorce is still illegal.

05) Straight marriage will be less meaningful if gay marriage were allowed; the sanctity of marriages like Britney Spears' 55-hour just-for-fun marriage would be destroyed.

06) Straight marriages are valid because they produce children. Gay couples, infertile couples, and old people shouldn't be allowed to marry because our orphanages aren't full yet, and the world needs more children.

07) Obviously gay parents will raise gay children, since straight parents only raise straight children.

08) Gay marriage is not supported by religion. In a theocracy like ours, the values of one religion are imposed on the entire country. That's why we have only one religion in America.

09) Children can never succeed without a male and a female role model at home. That's why we as a society expressly forbid single parents to raise children.

10) Gay marriage will change the foundation of society; we could never adapt to new social norms. Just like we haven't adapted to cars, the service-sector economy, or longer life spans.

Generation_D: we don't condone raping women in order to force them to marry us.

Speak for yourself.

Kurmudgeon: Generation_D: The ones that want to discriminate against gays marrying already by and large have convinced themselves that stories from 2000 years old sheepherders and fishermen about sky wizards and a magic zombie son are real.

And yet lectures from the "magic zombie son" about the golden rule and do unto others as you would have done to you are one of the main reasons I've been supportive of gay rights.
Looks like prejudice has bit you directly on the ass.
/don't confuse Christianity with US right wing conservatism

Had you farkied as "religious apologist."

nailed it again.

You can "do unto others" all you want, I will continue to point out that most asswits that are trying to deny gays equal rights under the law are religious fundamentalist asswits.