Opponents of a proposed gay marriage bill in Britain argue that allowing gay couples to marry would “dilute” marriage.

In a “Marriage Minutes” video produced by the Coalition for Marriage, UK's largest group working to defeat passage of the measure, host Dr. Sharon James argued that legalizing such unions would weaken the institution.

“Supporters of same-sex marriage often ask, 'Won't letting more people get married strengthen a struggling institution?' They point out that marriage has been weakened by rising rates of divorce and rising rates of birth outside of marriage. We agree that marriage has been weakened over the past 50 years,” she said.

“Marriage has already been weakened. But letting gay and lesbian couples get married won't help. … It would be diluted down into a genderless institution.”

“There is evidence in countries which have legalized same-sex marriage that far from strengthening the marriage culture it's weakened it. When Spain introduced same-sex marriage, for example, overall marriage rates plummeted.”

While rates of divorce have increased in Spain since 2005, the trend is not limited to Spain. Rates throughout Europe have been on the increase for the past several decades.

“Redefining marriage wouldn't strengthen it. It would further contribute to its decline.” (The video is embedded on this page. Visit our video library for more videos.)