This morning on the way in to work, Barry Markson was in for Barry Young. He was talking about New York approving a Gay Marriage proposal last week. The one question that he and Michelle Larson had was: what impact does Gay Marriage have on traditional marriage? They have not had a good answer to that question on the air. I will attempt to answer that question in my blog.

First, I should tell you where I am coming from. I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I agree with the church’s stand on marriage. I felt I should say what I believe so that people will understand what I am saying.

As far as I know, only two countries have had Gay Marriage for some time. Those two countries are Norway and Sweden. I know that the United States is not Norway or Sweden. That is true, even if half my ancestors came from those two countries. But, what their gay marriage approval has done to traditional marriage is instructive. Norway and Sweden have the lowest rates for traditional marriage in the world, at least the Western world. This is attributed to the fact that gay marriage has made marriage itself less attractive as a lifestyle.

I am not saying that what happened in Norway and Sweden will happen in the United States if we adopt gay marriage, but it could. The fact the only countries that have gay marriage have the lowest marriage rates should give us pause before we jump into something that may destroy the fabric that holds our country together. Norway and Sweden are shadows of their former selves since marriage has declined as an activity of the population. Children need to be brought up in homes with two parents, preferably one with a father and a mother. They need what both a father and a mother bring to the table.

One caller to the show brought up another problem with gay marriage. The problem is that it will now be taught as a “normal” marriage. Books are already out like, “Heather has two mommies.” Teaching that gay marriage is “normal” cheapens traditional marriage and makes people less likely to marry. That is precisely the problem that Norway and Sweden have faced.

I have no particular problem with gays. I have had many as students. In fact, I have had gays refer other gays to my classes because I treat them with respect. I do not treat them as a disease or some outcast. The ones that have thanked me for treating them as other students commented on that. What a person does on their own time and out of my sight is just fine with me. I just don’t want to have to endorse their behavior. Just like I do not drink alcohol, I do not condemn people for drinking alcohol. That is their choice. If they do so responsibly, I have no problem with that. I have exactly the same attitude towards both behaviors. They are behavioral choices. I just do not want to have to endorse their choice. As long as that standard is maintained, I leave them and their lifestyle alone.

The reason for marriage is so that children can be born and raised. Gay couples cannot have children in the normal way. That means that their “marriage” is not the same as a marriage between a traditional couple of a man and a woman. You may say that some traditional couples cannot have children and gays are no different than them. That is true, but the man and woman have the potential to produce children naturally when they get married. The gay couple does not have that potential. Gay couples can get children through adoption or surrogate means (artificial insemination or surrogate mother), just like infertile couples. But you have to take the potential at the time of marriage into account, not what is possible after marriage.

Another argument people make is that so many children are being born out of wedlock today. That is because marriage is being demeaned in TV, movies and most other liberal outlets. If marriage were encouraged and babies out of wedlock discouraged, we would have a complete reversal. A big player in the increase in out of wedlock births has been federal welfare programs. They pay better if there is no father present, than if there is a father in the home. That discourages those people from marrying and raising children together. If welfare laws were changed to encourage marriage, out of wedlock births would dramatically decrease overnight. That will never happen because single mothers tend to vote Democrat.

I hope this blog post has given some reasons why gay marriage is a bad idea. They can have an equivalent to marriage and call it a civil union or something like that. That gives them all the benefits and legal ramifications of marriage without demeaning the institution of marriage itself. Gay activists do not like that because their goal is not to have gays get married; it is to get traditional couples not to marry. That is achieved by calling it gay marriage.