Opponents Of Marriage Equality Just Got Some Unexpected Allies

The battle for same-sex marriage is headed to the Supreme Court later this month, but there are still groups fighting to keep it outlawed, and they just got a few unlikely allies: men who are married to women but are attracted to men. As Slate reported, the brief — which was filed on behalf of "same-sex-attracted men and their wives" — argues that recognizing same-sex marriages would be degrading to men who made the choice to marry and start families with women rather than have relationships with other men. 

Supporters of marriage equality, the brief says, "argue, in essence, that the pursuit of a same-sex
marriage is the only way for the same-sex-attracted 'to be true' to themselves; by insisting so, they
demean and disparage [these men] and their families."

The argument provides a fascinating window into the thought processes of marriage equality's opponents. But, it suffers from a very problematic premise — after all, legalizing same-sex marriage will not prevent men who are attracted to men from marrying women regardless. Unlike the queer men and women fighting to marry their partners in so many states, the rights of same-sex-attracted men who have chosen to marry women aren't under attack here; ending the prohibition against same-sex marriage will not force them to divorce their wives. And, removing someone's self-justifications isn't the same as violating his or her Constitutional rights.