According to the latest “No on 36” email, polling shows that most Oregonians are against amending the Constitution to ban gay marriage. According to “No on 36,” the big danger now is that, because the wording of ballot measures is often confusing, people might vote “yes” on this measure thinking that they’re voting to protect gay marriage. (My housemate and “Alas” comments-writer Charles, doing volunteer work for the “no on 36” phone bank, spoke to such a voter last night. She was emphatically in favor of gay marriage and therefore emphatically planned to vote for measure 36, until Charles clarified the matter for her.)
The point is, we could really win this one. If you can, please donate volunteer time (if you live in Oregon) or money (where ever you live) – go to the No on 36 website to find out how.
I also highly recommend this “No on 36” page – “Top Five False Claims From the Defense of Marriage Coalition,” which are listed as:
- If measure 36 fails, gay and lesbian sex will be taught in Oregon Schools.
- Gays and Lesbians can obtain all of the benefits and protections of marriage through contracts.
- Passing 36 leaves the door open to enact civil unions to protect rights of gays and lesbians.
- Scientific evidence is undisputable that children do best with a mom and a dad.
- Measure 36 does not change the Oregon Constitution.
(For the record, I’m not sure I agree with them about number 3.)
They give supporting quotes for why they think each of the above claims is false. Here’s a sample:
REALITY: Constitutional Amendment 36 will not impact what is taught in schools in any way.
Proponents of past anti-gay measures like Measure 9 and 13 made the same dire predictions. They were not true then and they are not true now. Teachers and health education experts across Oregon are urging a NO vote, including Oregon Education Association, the American Federation of Teachers-Oregon and Planned Parenthood.
“They have no business using our public schools as part of this campaign. Our schools have nothing to do with this measure. They are trying to create some sort of fear in our schools related to sexual orientation.” –- State Superintendent of Schools Susan Castillo
“I’m very concerned these fear-based scare tactics, which have no basis in fact, are misleading parents, students and other Oregonians. Constitutional Amendment 36 has absolutely nothing to do with what is taught in our schools. I can’t believe that proponents of the measure are using an education theme in their campaign rhetoric. Public education and banning gay marriage are two completely different issues – there is no connection.” – Debbi Covert, President of American Federation of Teachers – Oregon
We’ve already given what we can afford, so today I’m going to go volunteer.
Damn, I can’t wait until this election is over. It’s giving me ulcers.
Don’t believe everything you read.
A number of studies in recent years have purported to show that children raised in gay and lesbian households fare no worse than those reared in traditional families. Yet much of that research fails to meet acceptable standards for psychological research; it is compromised by methodological flaws and driven by political agendas instead of an objective search for truth.
In addition, openly lesbian researchers sometimes conduct research with an interest in portraying homosexual parenting in a positive light. The deficiencies of studies on homosexual parenting include reliance upon an inadequate sample size, lack of random sampling, lack of anonymity of research participants, and self-presentation bias.
In their thorough review of homosexual parenting studies (No Basis:What the Studies Don’t Tell Us About Same Sex Parenting, Washington:Ethics and Public Policy Center, 2001), Robert Lerner and Althea K. Nagai found little evidence to support the oft-repeated mantra that homosexual households are “just like” traditional families: “We conclude that the methods used in these studies are so flawed that these studies prove nothing. Therefore, they should not be used in legal cases to make any argument about ‘homosexual vs. heterosexual’ parenting. Their claims have no basis.”
Even if for the sake of argument I agreed with you that there are no studies definitively showing that children of same-sex parents turn out all right, so what? It would still remain true that there is NO legitimate research showing that children are worse off being raised by mom and mom (or dad and dad) than by mom and dad. So claiming – as the No on 36 people do – that there is such evidence, is a lie.
So someone (reaonably credentialed) at a think tank thinks that the research done so far on the subject is not strong enough to conclusively demonstrate that there is no difference between outcome from same sex parenting and opposite sex parenting. Presumably, you are trying to use this to refute the refutation of lie #4. However, the fact that the research on same sex parenting has not been sufficiently rigorous and extensive to satisfy all doubters can in no way legitimately be equated with there being any legitimate research showing that same sex parenting has worse outcomes than opposite sex parenting.
While the same sex parenting research showing that there is no difference is only preliminary, that is what all of the legitimate peer-reviewed research shows. There is NO legitimate, peer-reviewed research on sam-sex parenting showing that same-sex parenting has worse outcomes.
Your inclusion of such phrases as
does not make me think that you are someone particularly open to reasonable discussion, but I hope that you will prove my suspicions wrong.
The question’s raised about children are not relevant to the issue of marriage equality for Gay Oregonians — same-sex couples are already raising children together and Measure 36 won’t change that whether it is passed or not.
I googled Ethics and Public Policy Center (from Gender Specific’s comment) and found this on their home page (www.eppc.org): “The Ethics and Public Policy Center was established in 1976 to clarify and reinforce the bond between the Judeo-Christian moral tradition and the public debate over domestic and foreign policy issues.” Think they just might have a bit of a bias against homosexuals?
Any Christian group that refers to themselves as “Judeo-Christian” ought to jump off a cliff, but maybe that’s just me.
“Judeo-Christian?” Why are these people trying to bring Jews into this? Judaism and Christianity are two completely separate religions with two completely separate conceptions of God, and two completely separate ethical systems (and actually more than two, considering all the different types of each). So yes, to the cliffs with them.
And no, there are no studies that show that children brought up by same-sex couples are any worse off. And even if there were, that’s not really a compelling reason to keep two adults from marrying each other, seeing as not all married couples even have children.
But marriage isn’t about adults. It’s about the chillllldreeeennnnnnn! Everybody knows that.
Look up the definition in the dictionary. The dictionary says that marriage is one man and one woman raising children. Period. There is no other definition of marriage and never has been. It also says that the nuclear family has always been the family model and that marriage has always been what it is today. The bible will confirm all of this.
what most people fail to believe is that there is no difference in being raised by a mother and a mother, or in a split household where the parents divorced or the father died, and being raised by just one mother. i know that most families split up and divorce. so how is 2 mothers (or 2 fathers) any different that one mother (or one father) in a split family. i know probably 10 of my good friends have split parents, one has even had a father kill himself, and they are all turning out just fine. this information they have about you need to have one mother and one father is CRAP!!!!!
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