Family Pride’s Blog

This morning I was reading an article about the ongoing marriage battle in California. The article quoted VoteYesMarriage.com, an anti-gay family equality organization dedicated to barring marriage equality in the Sunshine State.

I decided the check out VoteYesMarriage.com for myself. Drawn in by the smiling faces of the diverse opposite-sex couples that lined the page header, I clicked the link labeled “why we must stop the judges and politicians.” This is what I discovered:

The California Marriage Amendment is Essential
to Preserve Marriage for the Sake of the Children

Do you see how marriage provides an important foundation for children?… Marriage is especially important for the raising of children. Research shows a child does best when raised by a father and mother who are married. On average, marriage serves the well-being of children — by raising boys and girls who are better educated, physically healthier, emotionally more stable, and less likely to get involved with drugs, drop out of school, get pregnant before marriage, or become victims of violent crime.

Perhaps the folks at VoteYesMarriage.com are forgetting something. Straight people aren’t the only ones with children; 20% of gay men and 33% of lesbians have children. So, then, I ask: don’t our children deserve the protection of marriage since it is so important?

And what about the “research” that shows a child does best when raised by a mother and a father who are married? There are indeed decades of research on the subject compiled by a great many sources. In 2006, Family Pride invited those researchers to our first ever Academic Symposium. For better or worse, we wanted to provide academics with a space to present their findings and share their research with the country. The consensus was this: LGBTQ parents are no better or worse than their non-LGBTQ counterparts. Not a single piece of research showed otherwise.

So, let’s protect children. Let’s ensure that their families have legal rights. Let’s ensure that social security survivor benefits will be transferred from one partner to another. Let’s ensure they can be covered by the health care of either parent (if it is a two-parent household). Let’s make sure that nondiscrimination policies are in place at all levels.

If VoteYesMarriage.com really wants to protect families, they should start with the families that need it most.

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