One thing that the right does very effectively is take a position or issue and frame it in the worst possible terms for progressives to defend. And sadly, many on the left don’t like to "go there", but the fact is, it is effective, and the left has one thing that the right doesn’t on many of these issues – public opinion on our side.
When it comes to marriage equality, not only is the tide turning, but the bigoted and homophobic arguments being made against marriage equality are reminiscent of the racist arguments made against interracial marriage – with wild examples of marrying pets or "ruining the sanctity of marriage" (which is a joke in a country with so much infidelity and divorce, let alone immediate marriage on demand by drunken people in Las Vegas for example. The "Biblical argument" is also a farce as I’d like to see an explanation about why the "coveting thy neighbor" one is so easily ignored.
But I digress.
A full 20 states (including my home state of New Jersey) allow marriage among first cousins, and another 6 allow it under "certain circumstances". States generally also recognize marriages of first cousins if they were married in a state where such marriages are legal.
Yet, we don’t see the same thing for same sex couples, because first cousin love is sacred.
Six states allow for pregnant teens or teens who already have had a child to get married without parental consent - however, there are some restrictions when the teen is 16 or less; so there are some real safeguards in there. A number of other states allow a teen to get married with parental consent if under 18, which would play well in situations where parents want their children to be married (like an arranged marriage for example) or if the parents think that it is a good idea that their pregnant 15 year old should "do the right thing" – because of course, there should never be sex outside of marriage, right?
Yet, same sex couples well above the age of 21 who are in a deeply committed relationship don’t get the same treatment – because we need to save the embarrassment of a teenage unmarried mother in those households with "good family values".
So let’s call it what it is – as long as that icky scary relationship between members of the same sex are confined to far right conservative hypocrites or after hours parties that Republican Senators secretly attend – things are just peachy. But when it comes to discriminating for no reason other than bigotry, ignorance and homophobia, then society needs to be saved from itself.
And the ability for a 16 year old pregnant girl to marry her first cousin should be protected with the utmost vigor – because THAT is the sanctity of marriage that should be maintained. Even if teens who marry are more than twice as likely to get divorced as those who wait until they are 25 or older.