The Triangle

Issue date: 11/14/08 Section: Ed-Op

Media Credit: Ray Chavez Oakland Tribune/MCT

The people of Arizona, Florida and California voted to ban same-sex marriage in their states Nov. 4.

California's Proposition 8 received the most attention because over 11,000 gay and lesbian couples were married there in the brief time that same-sex marriage was legal in the state. The California race turned out to be very close, and left political pundits pointing at African-American and elderly voters as being the reason the bans on same-sex marriage passed.

However, these demographics alone are not responsible for the movement against same-sex marriage. The main opposition comes from, and is funded by, religious institutions that have fought against it on "moral" and biblical grounds.

The recent bans on same-sex marriage across the country are concerning not only because they are a terrible set-back for equal rights, but also because they are a frightening example of the religious values of one group being imposed on everyone else.

In California, the Mormon Church of Latter Day Saints alone contributed over $15 million to an ad campaign claiming that "gay marriage will be taught in [California's] schools" if Prop. 8 failed to pass.

Simply put, the "Yes on 8" ads were false, and California State Board of Education President Ted Mitchell responded saying Prop. 8 would have no effect on California schools. He also called the ads "misleading" and said it was "political campaigning at its worst."

These ads are only the most recent in a long history of over-exaggerated claims, misleading "facts" and fabricated lies used by groups fighting same-sex marriage.

Proponents of Prop. 8 attempted to frighten parents about their children being exposed to homosexuals, even claiming that this exposure would "mess them up" and "confuse" them. One ad showed a mother horrified when her little girl came home from school saying she wanted to marry another "princess."

What I found to be most disappointing was not that "Yes on 8" completely fabricated a lie about school curriculum; most distressing was the suggestion that children will be damaged if they are exposed to the idea that two people of the same gender can love each other.

In 2002 the American Academy of Pediatrics reported that between 1 million and 9 million children are being raised by same-sex parents. Multiple long-term family and child psychology studies have all concluded that children raised by same-sex couples develop normally in every way. The same 2002 study published by the AAP concluded that, "Children who grow up with one or two gay and/or lesbian parents fare as well in emotional, cognitive, social, and sexual functioning as do children whose parents are heterosexual." No legitimate research has ever concluded that exposure to homosexuality has "messed up" children.

Continued...

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