Response on Same Sex Marriage-BECKER

Some really fine comments. I neither have the time nor knowledge to answer all of them, but let me respond to some that I consider more important. The evidence is increasing that being raised by a single parent has negative effects on children, although there is debate over how big these effects are. Being raised in an orphanage is obviously not helpful either. I do not know if being raised by same sex parents would be worse than being raised by a single parent, but I believe that it will usually be worse. But one of my main points was that since we allow gays to have children one way or another-increasingly not through adoption- then whether they can call themselves “married” seems like a minor consideration. More than one study shows that breakups among homosexual couples is much greater than among heterosexual couples. Some limited data was included in the first edition of my book A Treatise on the Family, and other studies have been published since then. Allowing homosexual marriage will discourage some gays or lesbians from entering heterosexual marriages that they later dissolve. But that effect is likely to be very small. If allowing same sex marriage reduced the number of partners among homosexuals, that is likely to reduce the incidence of Aids. That would certainly count as a plus, although I doubt if allowing same sex marriage would reduce turnover of gay relations much more than giving them full and complete access to civil contracts that are fully enforceable in courts. It is true that informal unions tend to dissolve in very high number, including those among heterosexuals, and in Scandinavia as well as Anglo-Saxon countries. So allowing official “marriage of gays might greatly reduce their turnover rates, but that is still unknown and I believe unlikely. Some have criticized my claim that children raised by gay couples will tend to be at a disadvantage, partly because they have same sex parents, and partly because they would differ so much from their peers. One person asserts that evidence indicates that diversity is beneficial in schools and other organizations. I believe there is no credible evidence showing that for schools. African-American children, for example, do well in school when they have good teachers, and principals who enforce high and tough standards-just read Thomas Sowell on this subject. I do not believe it would be difficult to have a civil contract in place of legal and legislative control of marriage and divorce. Most couples would start with a standard form, and only add to that form clauses that deal with special aspects of their relation. I would make such contracts compulsory, partly to remove the bad “signal” about lack of commitment when a person asks for a contract.

Comments

[Jeff]

I agree with Professor Becker. I think that many in the last comments advocated same sex marriage on the basis of diversity. There is a lot of confusion over diversity in my opinion. Diversity is not related to skin color, but related toward your attitude and perception. Skin color obviously has something to do with it. It is possible to have a homogenous skin color group and still have diversity.

[dude]

I found these essays on gay marriage to be considerably weaker than previous essays. Too many of your opinions are simply prejudices backed by little or no evidence. "I believe ..." is not a strong foundation for a policy opinion. Instead, it would be more helpful to list those things you don't yet know and, if possible, explain how one might gather that info. Politicians are expected to make wild claims of emminent doom, but tenured academics can and should do better.

On the other hand, you're allowed to rant on your own blog. I've just posted a rant about how old white people can't drive. I believe they should all have their licenses taken away.

[Matt]

Agree with "dude." And would add that Mr. Becker's rhetoric and sloppy reasoning reads like the public criticism of interracial marriages when they were being debated (e.g. Loving v. Virginia) in the 50s and 60s.

"I do not know if being raised by same sex parents would be worse than being raised by a single parent, but I believe that it will usually be worse."

Completely baseless statement (and has absolutely nothing to do with the question about equal marriage rights for all.

[shakha]

There is work that address your questions and beliefs. In regards to your statement:

"I do not know if being raised by same sex parents would be worse than being raised by a single parent, but I believe that it will usually be worse."

Stacy and Biblarz found this not to be the case. Specifically, their review of 21 studies, "almost uniformly reports findings of no notable differences between children reared by heterosexual parents and those reared by lesbian and gay parents". This work can be found at:

Stacey & Timothy Biblarz, "(How) does the sexual orientation of parents matter?" American Sociological Review, 2001

Further, there is little evidence that gay and lesbian relationships are more tenuous than heterosexual relationships. Specifically, in their recent work John Gottman and Robert Levenson did not find this to be the case (in fact, their findings suggested that homosexual relationships may be becoming more robust than heterosexual ones). They find that lesbians are more likely to leave relationships than gay men, but that gay men are no more likely to leave than heterosexuals. Their findings mirror those of Larry Kurdek and Pepper Schwartz. You can find Gottman and Levenson's study at:

http://www.gottman.com/research/projects/gaylesbian/

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