Item 1: Let's take the exception and make it the rule. Of course, there may be heterosexual situations that merit separation or divorcées. IMHO, divorce happens too easily and can be avoided if one or more of the parties chooses to do whatever it takes to avoid it (a large amount of humility is required). But, you miss the point entirely. This is a person who is expressing their personal experience - so, because some situations in the heterosexual "marriage world" exist, this point of view is invalid; I think THAT point is invalid. This person is somehow "invalidated" in the way they feel. We can all be "Monday morning quarterbacks" and commentators, not having lived through the same situation. Adopted children raised in heterosexual families are exposed to both a mother and father and therefore are not "stripped of that fundamental "natural right". Nobody in history was born of homosexual parents; a biological FACT! I would say the last comment is the minority, and you have no valid statistics to prove your postulate. In fact, I could add that children in single family "heterosexual" homes tend to be more likely to be trapped in poverty, have higher school dropout rates, higher crime rates and higher sociological maladjustment rates (and there are tons of facts whether right or left of the political spectrum that support this. Does that mean all single Moms or Dads are bad - no! That argument is a red herring or a "straw man" argument. But IMHO, the absence of a responsible, dedicated father plays an enormous role in that scenario.

An addition to Edit 1: the statistic on percent of the general population that is "gay" in proportion to "non-gay" is consistently overstated in the general media and by pro-gay groups. The more accurate percentage is between 2-3 % of the general population which makes the statement "many" somewhat trivial. The 10% statistic is a statistic originally based on a Kinsey study of male prison inmates who were asked such questions on a questionnaire, "Have you had sexual thoughts or attractions toward individuals of the same sex (paraphrased by the writer here)". Duh! That is a biased sample.

Edit 2: Unfortunately, in our general population, the divorce rate of 52% is tragic (IMHO) and is a result of not understanding and trivializing the "covenant of marriage" or agreement and is too often based on a partial understanding of what it takes to make a successful marriage. This is, unfortunately, caused by many factors: parents too busy to teach their children thoroughly and correctly, too selfish to take the time or not being taught themselves thus proliferating the ignorance factor", and being too involved in the sexual aspect compared to the emotional, interpersonal, and communications skills part of a great, healthy relationship. Do kids suffer from "divorce"? I say yes and more than most of the media and pundits want to admit because, again, it does not fit "their narrative". I could make the argument that I know "many" very healthy "religious and non-religious" heterosexual marriages that do pass along great family and personal values and skills. I think too many kids "miss out" on both their biological parents' influence for reasons not of their own making. TOO BAD for us all!

The other comment, "You're a conservative, you want small government, right? Why do you want them dictating who can and cannot be married? If you are of a legal age to make a contract, you can marry whoever else is also of that legal age and of sound mind/body period" is paradoxical. On one hand, you don't want the "government" to dictate whdat a marriage or marriage "rights" should be, but on the other hand, you want "the government" to violate the consciences and constitutionally documented rights of "freedom of religion and conscience connected to that religion (in a healthy sense - not the granola folks - fruits, nuts and flakes) to be mandated to by the USSC and other federal judges and state judicial entities and legislative entities. This is a two sided argument: I don't want government to dictate, but I want government to dictate! So, where the "people" have, through valid legislative and constitutional means, voted to support one postulate (in this case one man, one woman), you WANT THE GOVERNMENT, to overthrow that, through judicial caveat, and impose government mandated rules. It will NOT end there buddy! That is NOT the AGENDA, nor has it been since the early 1970's. The agenda is: "to force, by one means or another, my values (in this case homosexual) on the entire population at large whether YOU agree with it or not, and I have the POWER OF GOVERNMENT on my side to FORCE YOU TO COMPLY. It will eventually, FORCE its way into the churches of the land, the church employment of the land, and on and on. If you don't believe that, then you also believe NO RACISM exists any longer anywhere in America either.

By the way, homosexuality, has NEVER BEEN SCIENTIFICALLY PROVEN BY ANY STUDY, to show that it is 100% genetic, and, therefore, unavoidable so as to be constitutionally protected like race or gender "true gender". This is also a fallacious argument fomented by many in the media and the respective lobbies, and has no foundation in science. While genetic may play some role, it is, by far, not the most influential role by any means.

So, to agree with your one comment, "You are conservative (socially)", I would have to plead guilty, but not ignorantly or ashamedly guilty. I believe we are in more of a "mess" today because we have departed, as a general rule, those social mores which made us stronger as a country and a people.

So, I leave with the quotes from some of the folks who were "architects of our nation (not Karl Rove):

“Let the American youth never forget that they possess a noble inheritance, bought by the toils and sufferings and blood of their ancestors, and capable, if wisely improved and faithfully guarded, of transmitting to the latest posterity all the substantial blessings of life, the peaceful enjoyment of liberty, property, religion, and independence. The structure has been erected by architects of consummate skill and fidelity; its foundations are solid, its compartments are beautiful as well as useful, its arrangements are full of wisdom and order, and its defenses are impregnable from without. It has been reared for immortality, if the work of men may justly aspire to such a title. It may nevertheless perish in an hour by the folly, or corruption, or negligence of its only keepers, the People. Republics are created by the virtue, public spirit, and intelligence of the citizens. They fall when the wise are banished from the public councils because they dare to be honest, and the profligate are rewarded because they flatter the people in order to betray them.”….— Joseph Story (1779-1845) Lawyer, Supreme Court Justice & influential commentators on the U.S. Constitution.

The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government — lest it come to dominate our lives and interests….Patrick Henry.

We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other. John Adams (The Works of John Adams, ed. C. F. Adams, Boston: Little, Brown Co., 1851, 4:31).

Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote!...Benjamin Franklin.

I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by the gradual and silent encroachment of those in power, than by violent and sudden usurpation….President James Madison (1751-1836) speech, Virginia Convention, 1788.

If a republican government fails to secure public prosperity and happiness, it must be because the citizens neglect the divine commands, and elect bad men to make and administer the laws….Noah Webster