SSM: HMMMMM…. Unqualified Offerings makes an interesting point: “The next problem may strike some as minor: [the argument that male/male couples’ often laxer standards of sexual fidelity will spill over into heterosexual couples] depends on straight men (in marriages) observing the behavior of gay men (in marriages) and wanting to emulate gay men. That is, the theory assumes that in this matter straight men will adopt a completely different stance toward gay men than they do in almost every other aspect of life: ‘don’t be so gay.'”

I addressed this, I think, obliquely here–see esp. point two, and apply it to what tempted men might want to believe about sexual fidelity.

More directly, I’ll just say that SSM will change the cultural ideals of what it means to be a good husband. If you tell men that husbands who sleep around with other men are a-okay, you lose an important self-image tool (I won’t do this because I want to be a good husband) that societies have used for centuries to rein in tempted men. I can’t say it too often: People live by roles and ideals–masks. Change the masks, or remove one, and you change or constrain their options and their behavior.

But I’ll also note a really weird aspect of UO’s claim: He’s basically relying on the continuing strength of what SSM advocates generally call homophobia in order to make his case for SSM. That’s not illogical, precisely, but it is a bit… queer.