Plato states that "these are the people that finish out their lives together and still cannot say what it is they want from one another. " While he doesn't say it in so many words, Plato is obviously talking about the union of two people, a marriage.
While the idea of gay unions has been around for quite a while, so has the opposition to this movement. Religious groups especially have been there since the beginning to point out the moral and ethical implications of homosexuality in general. One of the most powerful organizations involved in the same-sex marriage debate is the Christian Coalition. The Coalition bases its opposition on the same scriptures and religious principles which have been utilized since they were recorded thousands of years ago. Some of the most candid passages proclaiming the sinful nature of homosexuality can be found in the Holy Bible. Leviticus states, "If a man also lies with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon their own heads. " In Paul's epistle to the Romans, he states that " men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust toward one another they which commit such things are worthy of death. " The Catholic Church has gone so far as to publicly proclaim that marriage is reserved for uniting "one man and one woman for the procreation and education of children Thus, we oppose attempts to grant the legal status of a marriage to a relationship between persons of the same sex" and that "no same-sex union can realize the full and unique potential which the marital relationship expresses. " This statement, delivered at the National Conference of Catholic Bishops on July 19th, 1996, clearly opposes legal same-sex marriages, but later goes on to support the individual rights of homosexual persons.
Moral and ethical cases for the support of gay marriages have been garnered as well, but are usually contained within human and civil rights arguments.