WSJ Op-Ed: The Hitch

[question everything]

The Wall Street Journal

The Hitch

By DARREN R. SPEDALE and WILLIAM N. ESKRIDGE JR.
October 27, 2006; Page A14

(snip)

Denmark was the first country to extend the rights and responsibilities of marriage to same-sex couples in 1989; and although the law used the name "registered partnership," straight as well as lesbian and gay Danes have generally equated these partnerships with marriage. Norway followed the Danish example in 1993, Sweden in 1995. While the actual title of "marriage" has been granted to gay couples elsewhere in the world only within the last five years, the Nordic countries have provided us with a rich source of information, and a 17-year history, as to what actually happens in society when gay and lesbian citizens marry. Social conservatives suggest that legal recognition of same-sex couples has harmed society. Sen. Bill Frist has stated that "years of de facto same-sex marriage in Scandinavia has further weakened marriage"; similar claims have been made by Sens. John Cornyn, Rick Santorum, James Inhofe and Sam Brownback.

However, there is no evidence that allowing same-sex couples to marry weakens the institution. If anything, the numbers indicate the opposite. A decade after Denmark, Norway and Sweden passed their respective partnership laws, heterosexual marriage rates had risen 10.7% in Denmark; 12.7% in Norway; and a whopping 28.8% in Sweden. In Denmark over the last few years, marriage rates are the highest they've been since the early 1970s. Divorce rates among heterosexual couples, on the other hand, have fallen. A decade after each country passed its partnership law, divorce rates had dropped 13.9% in Denmark; 6% in Norway; and 13.7% in Sweden. On average, divorce rates among heterosexuals remain lower now than in the years before same-sex partnerships were legalized.

In addition, out-of-wedlock birthrates in each of these countries contradict the suggestion by social conservatives that gay marriage will lead to great increases in out-of-wedlock births and therefore less family stability for children. In Denmark, the percentage of out-of-wedlock births was 46% in 1989; now it is 45%. In Norway, out-of-wedlock births jumped from 14% in 1980 to 45% right before partnerships were adopted in 1993; now they stand at 51%, a much lower rate of increase than in the decade before same-sex unions. The Swedish trend mirrors that of Norway, with much lower rates of increase post-partnership than pre-partnership.

(snip)

Our research has also uncovered additional social benefits. In dozens of interviews with partnered couples and through other sources, we found that marriage rights had an important beneficial effect not only on the couples themselves, but on their local and national communities as well. Couples reported that their relationships were stronger and more durable, that relationships with family members had deepened, that co-workers had become more tolerant and supportive, and their children felt greater validation by having married parents. Many couples reported a greater emphasis on monogamy, which may be reflected by the fact that national rates of HIV and STD infections declined in each of the Scandinavian countries in the years after they passed their partnership laws.

Finally, what about the "slippery slope" argument -- that same-sex marriage would start a dangerous movement toward legal recognition of socially unacceptable relationships? This hasn't happened in Scandinavia; 17 years later, there are still no calls for recognizing polygamy, incestual marriage or marriage to animals. Danes you ask about the slippery slope think you are joking. They realize that same-sex marriages serve essentially the same goal as opposite-sex marriages: lifetime commitment to your better half, the person who completes you.

(snip)

Mr. Spedale, an investment banker in New York City, and Mr. Eskridge, the John A. Garver professor of jurisprudence at Yale University, are coauthors of "Gay Marriage: For Better or For Worse? What We've Learned From the Evidence" (Oxford University Press, 2006).

URL for this article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB116191428485605594.html (subscription)

[NMMNG]

1. Proof that the naysayers and slippery-slopers

are full of poop.

[valerief]

2. And the Fristians will say, "Oh, yeah, the numbers may have gone

up but the quality has gone down." And they'll actually believe it.

[Nite Owl]

3. Amazing article especially

coming from the WSJ. Wish it wasn't subscription for the rest of it.

[DeSwiss]

4. I applaude this work.....

....and I've already put it on my "to buy" list. But I'm afraid that as far as Wingnuts go, it won't make any difference. They've never let "facts" get in their way before, and I don't expect that to change.....

[dsc]

5. I love their message

but the statistican in me cringes when I read stuff like this:

In addition, out-of-wedlock birthrates in each of these countries contradict the suggestion by social conservatives that gay marriage will lead to great increases in out-of-wedlock births and therefore less family stability for children. In Denmark, the percentage of out-of-wedlock births was 46% in 1989; now it is 45%. In Norway, out-of-wedlock births jumped from 14% in 1980 to 45% right before partnerships were adopted in 1993; now they stand at 51%, a much lower rate of increase than in the decade before same-sex unions. The Swedish trend mirrors that of Norway, with much lower rates of increase post-partnership than pre-partnership.

Of course the rate of increase went down in Norway, (45-14)/14 is 31/14 or about a 221% rate of increase in 13 years. To keep the same rate of increase the percent of out of wedlock birth would have had to increase to around 143% which is impossible. As a matter of common sense the only net effect of same sex marriage on out of wedlock birth should be a very slight decline as lesbian couples could get married before giving birth to kids. I can't picture that doing more than a 1 or 2% drop.