Virginia: Same-sex marriage?

Gay marriage would not serve society's best interests--just ask the experts

Date published: 10/1/2006

TO PARAPHRASE G.K. Chester- ton, before you take down a fence you'd better pause and figure out why it was put there to begin with. In Europe and America--including Virginia--people are being asked to remove the fence that has, for thousands of years, defined marriage as the union between one man and one woman. Is this a discriminatory barrier that needs to be torn down or a protective boundary that should be reinforced?

The question is timely. This November, voters will be asked to give thumbs up or down on an amendment to the Virginia Constitution defining marriage. Further, they will choose between two senatorial candidates with divergent views on the subject.

Although rhetoric on the subject can be heated, changing the legal definition of marriage is an issue that needs to be reasoned out in the marketplace of ideas. And to satisfy letter-writer Ron Miller of King George ["Marriage amendment debate isn't about values," Sept. 14], I will express my views without resorting to religious argument.

The most basic function of government is to preserve the nation. Preservation of the nation requires healthy children who become productive citizens in the next generation. And those children are best produced in homes where their biological mother and a father are married to each other. Allowing gay marriage would further weaken this already struggling institution.

Look at the facts. Eighty percent of child poverty is in broken or never-married families. Children of parents who do not get married and stay married are more likely to live in poverty, to dabble in substance abuse later in life, to fail in school, to be incarcerated, and to experience early unwed pregnancy. Today, nearly one-third of children are born outside of marriage and over half will spend all or part of their childhood without both of their biological parents.

Some argue that with heterosexual marriage in such a mess, maybe allowing stable gay couples to marry would be an improvement. The Dutch redefined marriage in 2001--but rather than strengthening the family by broadening its definition, this action has contributed to its decline. Disconnecting marriage from parenthood has made marriage seem irrelevant to the Dutch; concurrently providing for easy ways out has led to a very high divorce rate. The traditional family--mom, dad, and their kids--is now a rarity in the Netherlands.

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Date published: 10/1/2006