When Gay People Get Married

One of the tired, groundless, and unscientific arguments often dusted off as a means of sowing fear about LGBT rights involves the supposed conclusion that if gay people are allowed to marry then suddenly straight people will no longer want to commit to each other and society will self-destruct. Of course, as is readily apparent if one simply steps back to reflect for a moment, this argument is based essentially on fear and has nothing to do with intelligent reflection on this issue.

Thankfully, a new study, When Gay People Get Married, has just been published that refutes arguments such as this one in the best possible way: not through counter-attack or impassioned name-calling but simply through rigorous, scholarly study. As the author M. V. Lee Badgett shows, in fact when LGBT people get married they do so for many of the same reasons that straight people do - probably most of all simply because they love each other and want to seal that love in a way that's meaningful for them. And, as it turns out, the statistics show that allowing LGBT people to marry has had no visible effect on straight people, more of whom now appear to be getting married for other reasons.

Personally, I'm grateful for this book as it provides those of us working for change in society and religious groups with a reliable study with which to further strengthen our arguments in favor of marriage equality. However, above all else, my hope is that the examples of love, humanity, compassion, and kindness that many LGBT people live out in their daily lives will continue to touch and change hearts around them, helping bring greater freedom and peace to our communities.

Peace,
Padre Chuck