One of the characteristics of the conservative arguments against same-sex marriage has been how little basis they have in any kind of evidence. In one court case after another, arguments based on protecting the family have been shown to have no foundation in factual evidence; arguments from scripture have been refuted by Biblical scholars; and arguments based on claims about “traditional” marriage are contradicted by the historical facts.

The supporters of marriage equality know this. One by one, some high profile opponents are coming to acknowledge that they were wrong. David Frum, for instance, declares that he was once a strong opponent of same-sex marriage, but now finds himself unperturbed by the success of New York’s bill to recognize gay marriage. The reason, he points out, is that the evidence since gay marriage evolved from talk to fact, has simply not supported the claims of the opponents.

 

I was wrong about same-sex marriage -

The short answer is that the case against same-sex marriage has been tested against reality. The case has not passed its test.

Since 1997, same-sex marriage has evolved from talk to fact.

If people like me had been right, we should have seen the American family become radically more unstable over the subsequent decade and a half.

Instead — while American family stability has continued to deteriorate — it has deteriorated much more slowly than it did in the 1970s and 1980s before same-sex marriage was ever seriously thought of.

By the numbers, in fact, the 2000s were the least bad decade for American family stability since the fabled 1950s. And when you take a closer look at the American family, the facts have become even tougher for the anti-gay marriage position.

Middle-class families have become somewhat more stable than they used to be. For example: College-educated women who got married in the 1990s were much less likely to get divorced than equally educated women who got married in the 1970s.

-for the full article, see CNN.com.

He could also have pointed out (but does not), that while it undoubtedly true that marriage as an institution is clearly weaker than it once was, the geographical regions where marriage and family are strongest (as measured by divorce rates and the incidence of teen pregnancy) are precisely those areas where gay marriage and civil unions have gained legal recognition. Marriage and family are weakest where opposition to gay marriage is weakest.

It is not possible to shore up marriage where it is failing, by denying marriage to those who value it.

Related articles

• Presbyterians Speak In Favor of Same Sex Marriage Bill In New York (mlp.org)