Unheard argument for civil unions

There’s a “gay marriage” amendment up for a vote in our state this November. Based on previous posts in this blog, one might expect that I’d be for defining marriage to be between a man and a woman. However, one argument, which I haven’t heard bandied about threatens to convince me that “gay marriage” is a good idea.

I started considering the rates of sexually transmitted diseases especially HIV in the homosexual population. I came across one study which indicated that urban men, who have sex with men, have an infection rate of 17%. This is well above the level for heterosexuals. So, in order to prevent the spread of HIV, decrease the long-term burden to our health care system, promoting monogamous behavior among homosexuals might be a good idea. Perhaps, tax benefits for gays to marry and strict penalties for divorce might help promote this behavior.

Just a thought. I wonder why we haven’t heard it elsewhere.