gay Marriage will cause fewer people would marry
Image via WikipediaEven where legal recognition and marital rights and benefits are available to same-sex couples (whether through same-sex civil “marriages,” “civil unions,” or “domestic partnerships”), relatively few same-sex couples even bother to seek such recognition or claim such benefits.
The most simple way to document this is by comparing the number of same-sex couples who have sought such legal recognition in a given state18 with the number of “same-sex unmarried-partner households” in the most recent U.S. Census.19
When a relatively small percentage of same-sex couples—even among those already living together as partners—even bother to seek legal recognition of their relationships, while an overwhelming majority of heterosexual couples who live together are legally married, it suggests that homosexuals are far more likely than heterosexuals to reject the institution of marriage or its legal equivalent.
In California, same-sex “marriage” was only legal for a few months, from the time that the California Supreme Court ruled in May of 2008 until the voters adopted Proposition 8 in November of the same year. Press reports have indicated that about 18,000 same-sex couples got “married” in California20—less than 20% of the total identified by the Census.21 By contrast, 91% of opposite-sex couples who lived together in California were
Image via Wikipedia married.22 In other words, only 9% of heterosexual couples in California have rejected the institution of marriage, while over 80% of the homosexual couples rejected “marriage” when it was offered to them in 2008.In Massachusetts, the number of same-sex “marriages between 2004 and the end of 200623 represented only 52% of the number of same-sex cohabiting couples in the state identified by the 2000 census.24 By contrast, 91% of opposite-sex couples who lived together were married.25 In other words, 48% of same-sex couples rejected “marriage”, a rate more than five times higher than the 9% of opposite-sex couples who did so.
In the Netherlands, the first country in the world to legalize same-sex civil “marriage”, the figures are even more dramatic. A 2005 report indicated that only 12% of same-sex cohabiting couples in that country have married, with another 10% in what are called “registered partnerships.” 26 By contrast, 82% of heterosexual couples in the Netherlands (as of 2004) were married.27 This means that 78% of the same-sex couples in the Netherlands have seen no necessity for legal recognition of their relationships at all, while only 18% of opposite-sex couples have similarly rejected marriage.
These figures show that a large percentage, and possibly even an outright majority, of homosexuals—even those already living with a partner—neither need nor desire to participate in the institution of marriage. Legalizing same-sex “marriage” would be very effective in sending a message of endorsement of homosexual behavior. But the indifference of most homosexuals to “marriage” would send a message to society that marriage does not matter—that it is no longer the normative setting for sexual relations and child-rearing, but is instead nothing more than one relationship option among many, made available as a government entitlement program to t
Image via Wikipediahose who seek taxpayer-funded benefits.Couples who could marry, but choose instead to cohabit without the benefit of marriage, harm the institution of marriage by setting an example for other couples, making non-marital cohabitation seem more acceptable as well. If same-sex “marriage” were legalized, the evidence suggests that the percentage of homosexual couples who would choose cohabitation over “marriage” would be much larger than the Professionals rent percentage of heterosexual couples who choose cohabitation over marriage. It is likely that the poor example set by homosexual couples would, over time, lead to lower marriage rates among heterosexuals as well.28
