December 7, 2011

Column #1,580

Why Gov. O'Malley Is Wrong On Same-Sex Marriage

By Mike McManus and Ruth M. Jacobs, M.D.

In his 1828 American Dictionary, Noah Webster defined marriage as the “act of uniting a man and a woman for life,” because marriage “was instituted …for the purpose of preventing the promiscuous intercourse of the sexes, for promoting domestic felicity, and for securing the maintenance and education of children.” For children to thrive, they need to grow up in homes with a married mother and father.

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley wants to change that long established meaning of marriage by promoting an illusion that gender and even biological relationships don't really matter. Yet the healthiest children are those reared by a married mother and father. “Marriage is the union of a husband and wife for a reason: these are the only unions that can make new life and connect children in love to their mom and dad,” says Maggie Gallagher, President of National Organization for Marriage.

Consider the federal Fatherhood.gov advertising campaign "Dad is the highest rank of all," to realize the importance of gender. Children from fatherless homes, according to federal statistics, are "14 times more likely to commit rape, 32 times more likely to run away, 20 times more likely to have behavioral disorders, 5 times more likely to commit suicide, 10 times more likely to abuse chemical substances and 20 times more likely to end up in prison." 

Most studies of same-sex parenting involve children of divorced lesbian mothers who started out in a heterosexual household, thus providing little or no real information about parenting when Dad is axed right out of family. The American Pediatric Society reports, "There is a paucity of data on... adolescents.... reared in lesbian households since birth." With such startling lack of data, it is clear that proponents of same-sex marriage have foolishly placed the "needs of adults" above the needs of the child.

We have witnessed similar problems before. The increase in divorce, which was also led by a focus on the "needs of adults," has dealt a crushing blow to children. Children of divorce live five years less than those from intact families.  Therefore, why not require couples with kids to take a course on the impact of divorce on children before a divorce is filed, and ask parents to take classes to improve their communication skills? Many marriages would be saved, as a result.

Fatherhood.gov states, "Fathers play a unique and irreplaceable role in their children's lives."  Yet the majority of same-sex partnerships raising children are lesbian women. A lesbian relationship divides the family tree, breaks biological ties and excludes Dad. Enforcing same-sex lesbian marriage gives a female completely unrelated to a child GREATER legal rights than the child's own father.

While divorce may happen or a parent may die, Governor O'Malley and our elected legislators shouldn't further "put the axe to the family tree," in the guise of same-sex marriage.

Genderless relationships lack the stability of traditional marriage. A study of homosexual men found that the "duration of steady partnerships" was 1.5 years. In a lesbian parenting study of 78 children (the largest study to date), sixty percent of the mothers had separated before the child's seventh birthday.  By contrast, 66 percent of all heterosexual first marriages last ten years or longer, with 50 percent lasting twenty years or longer, reports the National Center for Health Statistics.

Gay activists want you to believe that homosexuality is innate, making genderless marriage a "civil right." Yet studies of identical twin indicate that if one twin is homosexual, in the majority of cases the other is not. There is no "gay gene." The Maryland Court of Appeals case, Deane vs. Conaway over same-sex marriage, concluded that homosexuality is not innate.

There are over 250 ex-gay groups (ExodusInternational.org). Peter Tatchell, an Australian-born British homosexual activist states "If heterosexuality and homosexuality are, indeed, genetically predetermined...how do we explain bisexuality or people who, suddenly in midlife, switch from heterosexuality to homosexuality(or vice versa)? We can't."

Same-sex marriage, by definition, throws either Dad (or Mom) overboard.  Americans intuitively know that. For example, great public outcry ensued after an attempt to change Mother and Father on passports to 'Parent One' and 'Parent Two' and the action was stopped. After Maine’s legislature voted for same-sex marriage in 2009, Maine voters repealed the law. Subsequently, two dozen state legislators who voted for it were defeated in 2010.

Maryland legislators should show compassion for children, work to keep Mom and Dad in the family and vote "NO" to same-sex marriage – or risk the fate of Maine legislators.