Homosexual 'marriage' harms marriage

One of the arguments brought forward by many who advocate a liberal kind of life is that they are not forcing anyone to live that way; they are simply making it possible for those who want to live thus to be able to do so. This is a fallacious argument. When particular lifestyles are introduced in society they affect the other lifestyles. When the lifestyle that is introduced is a negative one, then the influence will be negative.

Let us take gay 'marriages' as an example. Proponents of gay marriage frequently argue that allowing for it would have no effect whatsoever on the institution of marriage itself. Former Harvard anthropologist Stanley Kurtz, writing in the current issue of the Weekly Standard, reports on various European studies that challenge this argument. Kurtz reports that in those countries where full homosexual marriage rights have been granted, marriage and indeed concrete family structures have been considerably weakened.

These studies also show that the new ideas about marriage affect the traditional ones. The studies mentioned by Kurtz show that the function of marriage as the basis for stable family environments and parenthood is now no longer considered necessary. In Scandinavia, in the last 20 years, a trend has developed that separated marriage from parenthood.

This trend is being reinforced by the attitude in favour of same-sex marriage. "Instead of encouraging a society-wide return to marriage... gay marriage has driven home the message that marriage itself is outdated, and that virtually any family form, including out-of-wedlock parenthood, is acceptable."

Denmark has allowed legal homosexual marriage since 1989. The sociologists Cecilie Wehner, Mia Kambskar, and Peter Abrahamson writes: "The concept of a nuclear family is... changing. Marriage is no longer a precondition for settling a family - neither legally nor normatively." This transition in the definition of a family is similar in other Scandinavian countries.

Kurtz says the statistical measure of eroding family structures need not be based solely on the numbers of new heterosexual marriages, but also on increases in out-of-wedlock births and divorce rates. These factors have become more important as issues such as gay marriage and cohabitation have eroded the concept of family and the institution of marriage. Indeed, Sweden, Denmark, and Norway - all of which have incorporated full gay marriage rights over the past 10-15 years - have seen jumps in out-of-wedlock births since they legalised homosexual marriage. This deterioration of the traditional family structure has ushered in an era where the majority of children are born outside of marriage.

These are negative developments in society which should not be strengthened.

Additional data, such as those from the most recent Statistical Yearbook of the UN Economic Commission, demonstrate the growth of this trend. In the two decades leading up to 2001, marriage rates decreased, divorce rates increased, and out-of-wedlock births increased in many countries, and the countries with the largest percentage fluctuations in these issues are also those most lenient with homosexual marriage rights.

While the data were specific to Europe, the same could be said for all developed Western nations, including the United States. Demographer Kathleen Kiernan classifies all Western countries into a three-tier system signifying incidence of cohabitation, out-of-wedlock births, and marriage. Kurtz notes that Kiernan's "three groupings closely track the movement for gay marriage." Only in the lowest incidence tier where societies are "most resistant to cohabitation, family dissolution, and out-of-wedlock births... has the gay marriage movement achieved relatively little success."

What is happening overseas should open our eyes to developments happening in Malta as well. The recent study among University students shows that most of them are in favour of couples living together before marrying. They are also in favour of sex before marriage and divorce. We are certain the results obtained from among University students will be replicated if similar studies are done with other young people. What is the future for the family in Malta?

Another point we would like to make is made in the belief that legislation is very important to influence trends. It is imperative that our legislators give out the right kind of signals. This should be done in our parliament and in the European one. In June we will be voting for our representatives in the EU Parliament. We expect by right to be informed by these representatives of the positions they will be taking on such issues as gay marriages, for example.

We expect that our representatives in the European Parliament will champion family rights and not initiatives which erode our families.