Gay Marriage Seems to be Helping Straight Marriage

categories: Gay Marriage, Marriage Equality

Published August 24, 2009 @ 10:56AM PT

Straight Marriage We've long heard the predictions from anti-LGBT activists that gay marriage would "lead to the end of Western Civilization," that gay marriage would ruin the tradition of marriage, or that gay marriage will lead to adultery. Well, five years after Massachusetts became the first state to legalize same-sex marriage, not only has none of these doomsday predictions come true, but Massachusetts ranks as the state with the lowest divorce rate in the entire country.

Now there's a talking point: gay marriage reduces divorce. And the evidence is there to back it up.

Not only is Massachusetts's divorce rate the lowest in the country, but it's on par with what the U.S. divorce rate was in 1940. You know, sixty-nine years ago.

Legalizing same-sex marriage hasn't hurt the institution of marriage one bit in the Bay State. And it won't hurt the institution of marriage in Vermont, Iowa, New Hampshire, Connecticut or Maine.

If anything, it seems to be helping straight people stick together.

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Same-sex marriage is a very important right and when combining heterosexual marriages to form statistics on divorce, same-sex marriage reduces the divorce rate where it exists. Marriage is about two people coming together and not restrictions intolerant conservatives spew and is why when there's same-sex marriage, that happiness translates into a lower divorce rate. It's good that Massachusett's divorce rate is on the same level as that in the 1940s.

Posted by Edwin Bonilla on 08/24/2009 @ 01:14PM PT
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Indeed...While that is surprising news to me...It is also very welcome news.

I love how the lies of the homohaters are getting exposed.

Posted by Thomas McHugh on 08/24/2009 @ 07:17PM PT
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I wonder why though. Any guesses or ideas?

I also would like to know the increase in rate from before it was passed into law. Was the divorce rate among straight couples significantly higher six years ago?

I'm all for the change in laws but I still curious if there is any logic to your comments.

Posted by Michele Rodriguez on 08/24/2009 @ 07:18PM PT
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Many of the same-sex couples who have married in Massachusetts in the past 5 years have been together for 20+ years. They didn't marry before because they couldn't, and they're very low-risk for potential divorce. They're solid.

I bet if you measured the pool of same-sex marriages in the five states where it's legal and compare it to heterosexual marriage nationwide, the numbers would be a lot lower for gay people. Not because we're better at relationships, but because there are some committed couples in our community who've had to wait an awfully long time for their trip down the aisle.

Posted by Eric Peterson on 08/28/2009 @ 10:55AM PT
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A theory of mine is that if religious social conservatives (like me) put the energy that they are expending on opposing other people (not all of us) into their own families, then their own families will be stronger.

I think that living my faith is really much more powerful than trying to force others to live my faith. Granting a civil marriage (different from a religious marriage) to all consenting adults has nothing to do with my religious views. My beliefs are still intact and doing just fine without the state trying to enforce them.

Posted by William Brown on 08/24/2009 @ 08:56PM PT
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Indeed mr. brown...Your theory would seem to have a lot of merit at least from a logical point of view.

Posted by Thomas McHugh on 08/24/2009 @ 10:46PM PT
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Just wanted to add that I did look it up and found that MA has consistently been a low divorce rate state. I don't think there is an validity to the logic that this law had any effect on the divorce rate one way or the other. Still, this alone, speaks volumes.

D Rates from 90's w/MA the lowest rate: http://www.divorcereform.org/94staterates.html

Posted by Michele Rodriguez on 08/25/2009 @ 06:11AM PT
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Michele, you're spot on...I was being a bit snarky when I suggested that gay marriage helps straight marriage. The point really is that these doomsday predictions coming from anti-LGBT folks that gay marriage will ruin civilization is just not true. Five years after legalizing same-sex marriage, Massachusetts's divorce rate has gone down. That really seems to me to be the point to hammer home.

Posted by Michael Jones on 08/25/2009 @ 06:17AM PT
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HOWEVER, I do (honestly) wonder if there is a link between historically low divorce rates and the willingness to extend marriage rights to others. (Family values, indeed.)

Posted by Eric Peterson on 08/28/2009 @ 10:57AM PT
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D'oh! We're now on the same page :)

Posted by Michele Rodriguez on 08/25/2009 @ 07:15AM PT
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Yep...Whether caused by same sex marriage or not, the fact that the divorce rate HASNT gone up flies in the face of the bible thumper's lies....

Im loving it. :)

Posted by Thomas McHugh on 08/25/2009 @ 04:45PM PT
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You would b/c you're no different than all the other c*** sucks. Chances are you never even had a chance with a woman so you resorted to men. wow! Stop bashing the straight people!!! Bible thumpers this, homohaters that, it's ridculous! I'm not a bible thumper and I'm against man on man marriage. What are you going to call me?

Posted by Chris Gibson on 09/06/2009 @ 10:02AM PT
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I find it interesting that fundies will spew any lie as long as it gets them what they want. I don't know that gay marriage helps straight marriage, but it certainly doesn't harm it.

Posted by Ioan Lightoller on 08/26/2009 @ 02:39AM PT
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If they would just focus on strengthening support for straight marriage instead of spreading hate & bigotry, "family values" might have more meaning. But until then, the "family value" that is being forced down our throats is hatred toward everyone who isn't like "you".

Posted by Lisa Smolen on 08/26/2009 @ 07:10AM PT
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As a family man myself, let me list the things that threaten my marriage:

1. Not enough time with my family (including time to teach my kids right and wrong)

2. Too much sex in the media (from sexy TV commercials to hard core internet porn)

3. Peer pressure at work (co workers who like to party and always push me to go to strip clubs)

4. Drugs

5. Money troubles (the normal ones most people have)

6. Peer pressure on my kids at school

All of these thing on this abbreviated list are things that I worry more about than the state granting civil rights to gays.

Posted by William Brown on 08/26/2009 @ 07:35AM PT
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Unfortunately your evidence will not stand up to scrutiny as one example is never sufficient to make a case.

if you insist it does then I only need to talk about Sweden where legalised homosexual marriage has played havoc with society as the Swedes no longer see marriage as important because of the imposition of homosexual marriage.

As a result, most people don't get married now, they live together and the majority of children do not have a married mum and dad.

As most violence against children is done by defacto husbands who are not committed to the children in the relationship there are going to be some very damaged children in Sweden.

Posted by austin peters on 08/28/2009 @ 09:56PM PT
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Author

Michael is the Communications Director for the Human Rights Program at Harvard Law School, and previously was Communications Director for Pax Christi USA, a progressive Catholic human rights organization.