Additional Resources Underscoring the Importance of Preserving Man/Woman Marriage in Maine

There is a vast amount of social science research, economic data, and scholarly analysis that make the overwhelming case for preserving marriage as only the union of a man and a woman.  It is proven to be the best environment for raising children and the best for society.  We offer here a selection of just a few of the excellent summaries of this work as well as links to some of the best of these studies.

We also post some links to other Web sites and organizations that have additional information and analysis supporting man/woman marriage.

 

A brief overview of what is really at stake in the marriage debate

• For a quick overview of how the information highlighted here should frame the debate in Maine, click here. For a more detailed analysis click here.

 

New Hampshire and French government Commissions
recommend against legalizing same-sex marriage

• An official New Hampshire Commission was created by law in 2004 to investigate and analyze whether we should recognize civil unions or legalize same-sex marriage and concluded that we should not legalize either one.  The “New Hampshire Commission to Study All Aspects of Same Sex Civil Marriage and the Legal Equivalents Thereof, Whether Referred to as Civil Unions, Domestic Partnerships, or Otherwise” was created by  SB 427, Chapter 100:2, Laws of 2004.  A brief summary of the major findings and conclusions is posted here along with links to the report’s executive summary and the complete Commission report.
  
  
• Other governmental entities that have looked at legalization of same-sex marriage and the potential harm to society that would result have also recommended against or upheld traditional marriage in court decisions.  One of these was a national commission of French parliamentarians who not only recommended against legalizing same-sex marriage but also against allowing same-sex individuals to adopt children and against subsidizing artificially assisted reproductive technology for homosexual individuals.  A brief summary of the pertinent findings of the Commission is posted here. The executive summary is here. The entire report is posted here.

 

A Warning of How Legal Same-sex Marriage
has Already Caused Great Damage in Massachusetts

• This excerpt from a report by a leading pro-marriage group in Massachusetts summarizes the major damage that has already been done to schools, parents’ rights, businesses, religious institutions, government finances and in other ways in Massachusetts in the six years since four activist judges imposed same-sex marriage on the people of that state. It is “must reading” for every voter and every policy maker who thinks that legalizing same-sex marriage wouldl not radically change Maine as well if we are foolish enough to let it happen here.

 

The social institution/social goods
defense of man/woman marriage

• A good two-page overview of the social institution/social goods case for man/woman marriage has been put together as a Family Policy Brief by Family Watch International. It is posted here.
  
  
• A somewhat longer overview of the case is made by Monte Stewart, director of the Marriage Law Foundation and an internationally recognized expert on marriage law in the English-speaking world.  Mr. Stewart has developed this legal defense of marriage to its most sophisticated and successful level. This speech was presented at UCLA.
  
  
• A slightly longer paper by Monte Stewart presented to the International Society of Family Law is available here.
  
  
• A long and detailed paper by Mr. Stewart published in the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy is posted here.
  
  
• VIDEO  This is a video of a presentation by Monte Stewart at a “Marriage Matters” forum sponsored by the Vermont Marriage Advisory Council at the University of Vermont in January, 2008.

 

What the social science research shows

• Dr. Brad Wilcox, Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Virginia, gave this PowerPoint presentation, "Why Marriage Matters: Marriage, Lone Parenthood, Cohabitation, and Child Well-being in the West,"  at the World Congress of Families IV in Warsaw, Poland in May of 2007.
  
  
• VIDEO  This is a presentation by Dr. Pat Fagan, an internationally recognized expert on what the social science research data show on the importance of family structure and the value of children being raised by their married biological parents  at a “Marriage Matters” forum sponsored by the Vermont Marriage Advisory Council at the University of Vermont in January, 2008.
  
  
• Published by the Witherspoon Institute in Princeton, New Jersey, “Marriage and the Public Good: 10 Principles” is an excellent medium-length summary of the social science-based case for preserving marriage as only between a man and a woman.  It is the product of collaboration between scholars in a wide range of academic disciplines and seeks to broaden the debate over marriage to focus on the lessons of the social sciences and recent social experiences to make a conclusive case for preserving marriage.  The entire 57-page booklet is available here in html format and in pdf format.
  
  
• “Do fathers matter uniquely in the wellbeing of their children?” is a survey reflecting the findings of literally hundreds of academic studies that show that fathers, as well as mothers are critical in the wellbeing and healthy development of children at all ages.
  
  
• In “The Shift and the Denial: Scholarly Attitudes toward Family Change, 1977-2002,” two noted researchers document the growing consensus over the past two decades that family structure, particularly the presence of both a mother and a father, are essential to the best development of children.  They also document the disturbing development of activist researchers who deny or try to confuse this growing evidence.  

 

The possible economic costs of legalizing same-sex marriage

• “The Taxpayer Costs of Divorce and Unwed Parenting” is the first comprehensive scholarly effort to determine the cost to the taxpayers from the fragmentation of the family in the U.S.  Its conservative estimate is at least $112 billion annually, with the share for Maine taxpayers pegged at a minimum of $214 million.  Some of the factors leading to increased divorce and unwed parenting result in a changing perception and understanding of the social institution of marriage.  The loss of the “social goods” from marriage is largely what is costing these tax dollars. But these negative influences on the institution are minor compared to the radical redefinition of the social institution that would result from legalizing same-sex marriage.  We can reasonably expect that the costs from such an action would be much greater.  The report is available here.

 

Why legalizing same-sex marriage is not like
legalizing interracial marriage

• The comparison is often made between prohibiting same-sex individuals to marry and the laws banning interracial marriage that have been struck down by U.S. courts.  As this law journal article, “Marriage and the Betrayal of Perez and Loving,” lays out, this is a false comparison.  Interracial marriage is still traditional marriage between a man and a woman, and from a social institution perspective, it does not change the common understanding of marriage in society.  Legalizing same-sex marriage, by contrast, is a radical redefinition of this social institution.

 

The threat same-sex marriage poses to religious freedom

Few people understand how legalizing same sex marriage will fundamentally change many aspects of society that are not immediately apparent.  The likely impact on freedom of religion is a good example.

• “Same–Sex Marriage and the Threat to Religious Liberty” by Thomas M. Messner is an excellent Heritage Foundation Backgrounder.
  
  
• “Banned in Boston: the coming conflict between same-sex marriage and religious liberty,” by Maggie Gallagher uses the case study of how legalization of same-sex marriage in Massachusetts forced Catholic Charities of Boston to suspend adoptions to underscore the larger threat to religious freedom. 

 

Other resources in defense of marriage

• VIDEO  David Blankenhorn, noted author and nationally respected scholar on marriage issues, gave an informative and wide-ranging presentation on the importance of preserving man/woman marriage at a “Marriage Matters” seminar sponsored by the Vermont Marriage Advisory Council at Dartmouth University in March, 2008. 
  
  
• “Eight Reasons to Defend Man/Woman Marriage” is a Family Policy Brief prepared by Family Watch International that provides a good summary of the issue.

 

Links to other sites and organizations with
valuable additional information and resources

• The Beverly LaHaye Institute is sponsored by Concerned Women for America and publishes useful commentary and analysis of research on family issues.
  
  
• “Family Facts” is a site maintained by the Heritage Foundation with an exhaustive summary of studies on marriage and divorce as well as other family-related issues.
  
  
• The Family Studies Center at Brigham Young University posts extensive research produced by the largest aggregation of family scholars at any institution in the world.
  
  
• Family Research Council posts some excellent analysis and commentary on marriage and other family issues.
  
  
• Family Watch International is one of the few pro-family organizations that takes positions on family and family values-related issues solely on the basis of social science research and other scholarly analysis, the lessons of history and common sense.
  
  
• The Institute for American Values is a highly respected think tank that produces studies and analysis of marriage and other issues related to the family in the U.S.

 

 

©2009 — Marriage Facts Maine