Will same-sex marriage destroy American society?

Of course not. A bit of common sense, which the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) seems to be lacking, and some additional validating research tell us that same-sex marriage actually makes for stronger, more inclusive societies. As M. V. Lee Badgett, author of "When Gay People Get Married: What Happens When Societies Legalize Same-Sex Marriage," told The New York Times:

"The big point is that all of the evidence suggests that same-sex couples will fit right into our current understanding of marriage in the U.S. Marriage itself will not be affected. Dutch heterosexuals appear to have adapted to the legal change [in 2001] by changing how they see same-sex couples, not how they see marriage. Now they see gay couples as people who should get married, and they are happy to remind their gay and lesbian family members of that fact!

We also see why the word 'marriage' matters. The Dutch same-sex couples I interviewed saw their civil union-like status as 'a bit of nothing,' as one person called it, or as a political compromise that an accountant might invent. Only marriage has the social understanding to back up the legal status, and the social meaning is as important as the legal rights. Civil unions just don't have that social meaning. One woman I interviewed put it this way: 'Two-year-olds understand marriage. It's a context, and everyone knows what it means.'"

Sound practical judgment.