and supported sexual union between a man and woman which creates rights and
obligations between the couple and any children the union may produce…Marriage
is the fundamental, cross-cultural institution for bridging the male and female
— Maggie Gallagher, “What is Marriage For? The Public Purposes of Marriage Law,”
Louisiana Law Review, 62 (2002), 773-75.
MARRIAGE AND CULTURE
“ [Traditional] marriage laws
reinforce the idea that the union of
husband and wife is, on the whole, the
most appropriate environment for
rearing children—an ideal supported
by the best available social science.”
- Sherif Girgis, Ryan T. Anderson, Robert P. George. What is Marriage? Man and Woman: A Defense, p. 58, 8
MARRIAGE AND CULTURE
“Recognizing same-sex relationships
as marriage would legally abolish that
ideal.
- Sherif Girgis, Ryan T. Anderson, Robert P. George. What is Marriage? Man and Woman: A Defense, p. 58, 8
MARRIAGE AND CULTURE
“Redefining marriage would thus
soften the social pressures and lower
the incentives—already diminished by
these last few decades—for husbands
to stay with their wives and children, or
for men and women to marry before
having children. All this would harm
children’s development into happy,
productive, upright adults.”
- Sherif Girgis, Ryan T. Anderson, Robert P. George. What is Marriage? Man and Woman: A Defense, p. 58, 8
REDEFINING MARRIAGE
“But how can the law teach that fathers are essential if it redefines marriage to make
fathers optional? Redefining marriage diminishes the social pressures for husbands to
remain with their wives and children, and for men and women to marry before having
children.Redefining marriage to include same-sex relationships makes marriage primarily
about emotional union, more about adults' desires than children's needs.”
REDEIFINING MARRIAGE
“First, it fundamentally reorients the institution of marriage away from the needs of children
toward the desires of adults. It no longer makes marriage about ensuring the type of family
life that is ideal for kids; it makes it more about adult romance. If one of the biggest social
problems we face right now in the United States is absentee dads, how will we insist that
fathers are essential when the law redefines marriage to make fathers optional?”
REDEIFINING MARRIAGE
"Second, if you redefine marriage, so as to say that the male-female aspect is irrational
and arbitrary, what principle for policy and for law will retain the other three historic
components of marriage? In the United States, it’s always been (1) a monogamous
union, (2) a sexually exclusive union, and (3) a permanent union. We’ve already
seen new words created to challenge each and every one of those items.”
- Ryan T. Anderson, “Marriage Matters, and Redefining It Has Social Costs”https://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2014/01/11880/
THROUPLE MARIAGE
“Throuple” is a three-person couple. New York Magazine reports about it. Here’s the question: if I were to sue
and say that I demand marriage equality for my throuple, what principle would deny marriage equality to the
throuple once you say that the male-female aspect of marriage is irrational and arbitrary? The way that we got
to monogamy is that it’s one man and one woman who can unite in the type of action that can create new life
and who can provide that new life with one mom and one dad. Once you say that the male-female aspect is
irrational and arbitrary, you will have no principled reason to retain the number two.”
“monogamish.” Monogamish was introduced in the New York Times in 2011. The term
suggests we should retain the number two, but that spouses should be free to have
sexually open relationships. That it should be two people getting married, but they should
be free to have sex outside of that marriage, provided there’s no coercion or deceit.”
“Same-sex marriage would further undercut the idea that procreation is intrinsically connected to
marriage. It would undermine the idea that children need both a mother and a father, further weakening
the societal norm that men should take responsibility for the children they beget. Finally, same-sex
marriage would likely corrode marital norms of sexual fidelity, since gay-marriage advocates and gay
couples tend to downplay the importance of sexual fidelity in their definition of marriage.”
- Marriage and the Public Good: Ten Principles. The Witherspoon Institute. Kindle Edition.
SEX AND CULTURE
“Now, whatever you think about group marriage, whatever you think about
temporary marriage, whatever you think about sexually open marriage, as far as
adults living and loving how they choose, think about the social consequences if
that’s the future direction in which marriage redefinition would go.”
“For every additional sexual partner a man has and the shorter-lived those
relationships are, the greater the chances that a man creates children with
multiple women without commitment either to those women or to those kids.
SAME-SEX PARENTING
How does same-sex parenting affect
children and society at large ?.
“Not a single study has found children of lesbian or gay
parents to be disadvantaged in any significant respect
relative to children of heterosexual parents.”
- Charlotte Patterson, “Lesbian & Gay Parenting,” American Psychological
Association, p. 15, http://www.apa.org/pi/lgbt/resources/parenting-full.pdf
THE TRUTH
WHAT DO STUDIES ACTUALLY SAY CONCERNING SAME SEX
MARRIAGE, DOES IT WEAKEN OR STRAIGHTEN THE FAMILY?
THE SOCIAL SCIENCE
Perhaps you’ve heard that it makes “no
difference” for children whether they are
raised by a same-sex couple or by their
married mom and dad. Don’t believe it. A lot
depends on how social scientists interpret
the data and on their comparison group, but
not a single scientifically rigorous study
establishes that conclusion.
THE SOCIAL SCIENCE
”How Different Are the Adult Children of Parents Who Have Same-Sex Relationships?
Findings from the New Family Structures Study,” Social Science Research 41(4) (July
2012): 752–770, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2012.03.009;
-ACP Brief, 4.
Regnerus makes the point eloquently when he sums up one of
Sullins’s studies: “[T]here is no equivalent replacement for the
enduring gift to a child that a married biological mother and father
offer. It’s no guarantee of success. It’s not always possible. But
the odds of emotional struggle at least double without it.”
Same-Sex Couples
The longer and more formalized the same-sex union,
the worse the outcomes for kids. The ACP brief notes:
- Mark Regnerus, How Different are the Adult Children of Parents Who have Same-sex Relationships? Findings
from the New Family Structures Study, 41 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH (2012).
Children raised by lesbians or male homosexual parents:
•Have been arrested more often
•If they are female, have had more sexual partners—both
male and female
- Mark Regnerus, How Different are the Adult Children of Parents Who have Same-sex Relationships? Findings
from the New Family Structures Study, 41 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH (2012).
Children of lesbian mothers, compared with children raised by their parents:
•Are more likely to be currently cohabiting
•Are almost 4 times more likely to be currently on public assistance
•Are more than 3 times more likely to be unemployed (28% vs. 8%)
- Mark Regnerus, How Different are the Adult Children of Parents Who have Same-sex Relationships? Findings
from the New Family Structures Study, 41 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH (2012).
“Children raised by lesbians are seven times more likely to
become lesbians than children raised by heterosexuals”
- Fiona L. Tasker and Susan Golombok, “Adults Raised as Children in Lesbian Families,”
Developmental Psychology, 31 (1995), 213
“Children raised by homosexual men are three times
more likely to practice homosexuality than children
raised by heterosexuals”
- J. Michael Bailey, et. al., “Sexual Orientation of Adult Sons of Gay Fathers,” Developmental
Psychology, 31 (1995), 124-28
The proposition that children fare best when raised by their biological mothers and
fathers in an intact family was affirmed in a recent peer reviewed study by researcher
Mark Regnerus (the “Regnerus study”). Regnerus found that children raised by
lesbian mothers (“LM”) and gay fathers (“GF”) fared far worse than did children
raised by their biological intact families (“IBF”) in numerous ways.
- Mark Regnerus, How Different are the Adult Children of Parents Who have Same-sex Relationships? Findings
from the New Family Structures Study, 41 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH 752, 761 (2012).
The Regnerus study is a population-based cross-sectional study of
3000 young adults between the ages of 18 and 39.55 The study
revealed that:
“Sixty-nine (69) percent of (Lesbian Mothers) LMs and 57% of (Gay Fathers)
GFs reported that their family received public assistance at some point while
growing up, compared with 17% of (Intact Biological Families) IBFs; 38% of
(Lesbian Mothers) LMs said they are currently receiving some form of public
assistance compared with 10% of (Intact Biological Families) IBFs.”
- Mark Regnerus, How Different are the Adult Children of Parents Who have Same-sex Relationships? Findings
from the New Family Structures Study, 41 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH 761-62 (2012).
“Just under half of all (Intact Biological Families) IBFs reported being
employed full-time at present, compared with 26% of (Lesbian Mothers) LMs.
While only 8% of IBF respondents said they were currently unemployed, 28%
of (Lesbian Mothers) LM respondents said the same.”
- Mark Regnerus, How Different are the Adult Children of Parents Who have Same-sex Relationships? Findings
from the New Family Structures Study, 41 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH 761-62 (2012).
“(Lesbian Mothers) LMs were statistically less likely than (Intact Biological Families) IBFs
to have voted in the 2008 presidential election (41% vs. 57%), and more than twice as
likely --19% vs. 8%--to report being currently (or within the past year) in counseling or
therapy 'for a problem connected with anxiety, depression, relationships, etc.,' an
outcome that was significantly different after including control variables.”
- Mark Regnerus, How Different are the Adult Children of Parents Who have Same-sex Relationships? Findings
from the New Family Structures Study, 41 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH 761-62 (2012).
Regnerus’ study also found that children raised by lesbians:
•Are Are 3 times more likely to have had committed
adultery while married or cohabiting (40% vs. 13%)
- Mark Regnerus, How Different are the Adult Children of Parents Who have Same-sex Relationships? Findings
from the New Family Structures Study, 41 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH (2012).
“Children of lesbian mothers, compared with children raised by their parents:
•Are almost 4 times more likely to be currently on public assistance
•Are more than 3 times more likely to be unemployed (28% vs. 8%)”
https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/sexual-health/sexual-health-for-lesbian-and-bisexual-women/
These statistics convey a strong government interest in encouraging biological intact
families through marriage policy. Children raised by biological intact families are much
more likely to become productive citizens who vote, are mentally stable, have more stable
relationships, and who are less likely to become dependents of the state. In addition, the
children in biological intact families are more likely to enter relationships in which they
can organically produce children of their own.
- Mark Regnerus, How Different are the Adult Children of Parents Who have Same-sex Relationships? Findings
from the New Family Structures Study, 41 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH 762 (2012).
In the Regnerus study, 90% of respondents from (Intact Biological Families)
IBFs identified as entirely heterosexual, whereas only 61% of those raise by
(Lesbian Mothers) LMs and 71% of those raised by (Gay Fathers) GFs
reported identifying entirely as heterosexual.
- Mark Regnerus, How Different are the Adult Children of Parents Who have Same-sex Relationships? Findings
from the New Family Structures Study, 41 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH 762 (2012).
Similarly, “a greater share of daughters of lesbian mothers reported
being ‘not sexually attracted to either males or females’ ... 4.1% of
female (Lesbian Mothers) LMs compared to 0.5% of female
(Intact Biological Families) IBFs.”
- Mark Regnerus, How Different are the Adult Children of Parents Who have Same-sex Relationships? Findings
from the New Family Structures Study, 41 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH 762 (2012).
Similarly, those raised by lesbians “fare worse on educational attainment, family-of-
origin safety/security, negative impact of family-of-origin, the CES-D (depression)
index, one of two attachment scales, report worse physical health, smaller household
incomes than to do respondents from still-intact biological families, and think that
their current romantic relationship is in trouble more frequently.”
- Mark Regnerus, How Different are the Adult Children of Parents Who have Same-sex Relationships? Findings
from the New Family Structures Study, 41 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH 762-3 (2012).
“Children raised by homosexual fathers
also fared worse than children raise
in intact biological families.”
- Mark Regnerus, How Different are the Adult Children of Parents Who have Same-sex Relationships? Findings
from the New Family Structures Study, 41 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH 763 (2012).
“When contrasted with those raised by intact biological families, those raised by
homosexual fathers “reported more modest educational attainment, worse scores on the
family-of-origin safety/security and negative impact indexes, less closeness to their
biological mother, greater depression, a lower score on the current (romantic) relationship
quality index, and think their current relationship is in trouble more frequently.”
- Mark Regnerus, How Different are the Adult Children of Parents Who have Same-sex Relationships? Findings
from the New Family Structures Study, 41 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH 763 (2012).
In addition, those raised by both lesbian mothers and
homosexual fathers were more likely than those raised in
biological intact families to smoke, have been arrested, and
to have pled guilty to non-minor offenses.
- Mark Regnerus, How Different are the Adult Children of Parents Who have Same-sex Relationships? Findings
from the New Family Structures Study, 41 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH 764 (2012).
In addition, children are apparently safer in (Intact Biological Families) IBF
homes. “23% of (Lesbian Mothers) LMs said yes when asked whether ‘a parent
or other adult caregiver ever touched you [sic] in a sexual way, forced you to
touch him or her in a sexual way, or forced you to have sexual relations,’ while
only 2% of (Intact Biological Families) IBFs responded affirmatively.”
- Mark Regnerus, How Different are the Adult Children of Parents Who have Same-sex Relationships? Findings
from the New Family Structures Study, 41 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH 763 (2012).
“Among female respondents, 3% of (Intact Biological Families)
IBFs reported parental (or adult caregiver) sexual contact/
victimization, dramatically below the 31% of (Lesbian Mothers)
LMs who reported the same. Just under 10% of female (Gay
Fathers) GFs responded affirmatively to the question.”
- Mark Regnerus, How Different are the Adult Children of Parents Who have Same-sex Relationships? Findings
from the New Family Structures Study, 41 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH 763 (2012).
“[C]hildren appear most apt to succeed well as adults -- on multiple
counts and across a variety of domains -- when they spend their entire
childhood with their married mother and father, and especially
when the parents remain married to the present day.”
- Mark Regnerus, How Different are the Adult Children of Parents Who have Same-sex Relationships? Findings
from the New Family Structures Study, 41 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH 766 (2012).
“ It appears that children even grow up to mimic the sexual practices
of their parents, as “while [only] 13% of (Intact Biological Families)
IBFs reported having had a sexual relationship with someone else
while they were either married or cohabitating, 40% of
(Lesbian Mothers) LMs said the same.”
- Mark Regnerus, How Different are the Adult Children of Parents Who have Same-sex Relationships? Findings
from the New Family Structures Study, 41 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH 763 (2012).
Children of Gay Parents:
Adultery Comparison
- Mark Regnerus, How Different are the Adult Children of Parents Who have Same-sex Relationships? Findings
from the New Family Structures Study, 41 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH (2012).
Children raised by lesbians:
• Are 10 times more likely to have been “touched
sexually by a parent or other adult caregiver.”
- Mark Regnerus, How Different are the Adult Children of Parents Who have Same-sex Relationships? Findings
from the New Family Structures Study, 41 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH (2012).
Children of Gay Parents:
Molestation Comparison
- Mark Regnerus, How Different are the Adult Children of Parents Who have Same-sex Relationships? Findings
from the New Family Structures Study, 41 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH (2012).
Children raised by lesbians:
•Are almost 4 times as likely to have been raped
•Are more likely to have “attachment” problems related to the
ability to depend on others
•Use marijuana more frequently
- Mark Regnerus, How Different are the Adult Children of Parents Who have Same-sex Relationships? Findings
from the New Family Structures Study, 41 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH (2012).
Children raised by lesbians:
•Smoke more frequently
•Watch TV for long periods more frequently
•Have pled guilty to a major offense more often
- Mark Regnerus, How Different are the Adult Children of Parents Who have Same-sex Relationships? Findings
from the New Family Structures Study, 41 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH (2012).
“When compared with outcomes for children raised by an
intact biological family, the children raised by homosexuals
did worse on 77 out of 80 outcome measures.”
- Mark Regnerus, “How Different Are the Adult Children of Parents Who Have Same-Sex Relationships?
Findings from the New Family Structures Study,” Social Science Research, Vol. 41, No. 4 (June 2012),
pp. 752–770, http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0049089X12000610
“Even after including controls for age, race, gender, family income, and things like being
bullied as a youth, or the gay-friendliness of the state in which they live, such respondents
were more apt to report being unemployed, less healthy, more depressed, more likely to
have cheated on a spouse or partner, smoke more pot, having trouble with the law, report
more male and female sex partners, more sexual victimization, and were more likely to
reflect negatively on their childhood family life, among other things.”
- Dr. Mark Regnerus, “Does it really make no difference if your parents are straight or gay?”
http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2012/06/gay_parents_are_they_really_no_different_.html
“By comparison, children of homosexual couples did the
worst, in 9 of the 13 academic, moral, and social categories
compared with children of heterosexuals.”
Part 27