“The definition, exclusive status, and legal benefits of marriage may become one of the decade’s most important domestic policy issues in the United States. Numerous articulate and influential scholars, lawmakers, and pundits are asking why the preferred legal status and benefits of marriage should not be extended to unions other than traditional marriages (that is, exclusive, presumably lifelong, state-approved consensual unions of a man and a not-closely-related woman). With many questions in life, there are a sufficient number of clear-cut answers that a reasonable decision can be made and supported. When it comes to such controversial issues as abortion and same-sex marriages, though, the answers become less certain in light of the enormity of the concepts involved. At first blush, same-sex marriages would not appear to represent a threat of any sort to a society since the individuals involved are assumed to be consenting adults who understand the implications of their actions. However, an increasing amount of criticism has been focused on these issues in recent months as many cities and states in the U.S. have attempted to provide a legitimate framework in which gay couples could achieve legal status and recognition for their relationships.”