How many straight marriages have been destroyed so far ?

[Spinzonner]

(I expect this is a dup)

Is there a web site tracking this important data ?

[China_cat]

1. by what?

[Liberal Veteran]

2. By the strange hetero marriage destroying effect of gay marriage.

Although it's odd they have the lowest divorce rate.

[Spinzonner]

3. Well, that gives them lots of room for changes

and the homophobics will leap on any increase as a rationalization.

[China_cat]

5. I've never understood that 'rationale'.

There's only 2 people who can destroy my marriage...my husband and myself. All else doesn't apply.

[Liberal Veteran]

6. Uh-uh...I am going to get married and move in next to you....

....and your marriage is just going to collapse due to homo-waves coming from my marriage. :)

[China_cat]

8. Well, you can try.

But after 31 years, I don't think we're going anywhere. Just too lazy to get up and look for new.

But I could sure use your advice on decorating and clothes.

[clydefrand]

4. Not mine, not any of my neighbors on my street and there are

two gay guys who live across the street from us. Guess they aren't married at least not in this RED state! Nice guys, too. I doubt there are any marriages that are destroyed by homosexual marriages.

[StClone]

7. Here's one

How many marriages have been destroyed by Bush's reselection?

[YankeyMCC]

9. Our neighbors

Were married not long after it became possible here. Funny hasn't had much affect on my marriage. Well maybe it had a good effect the night of the wedding...I mean after having a nice time eating, dancing and drinking with friends...well it leds to a good night :)

But I guess I can't claim for than one night benifit from that wedding. :)

PS: Funny how it's us "blue staters" who have homosexual couples as neighbors and support same sex marriages and the "red staters" who go their whole lives never even talking to a gay person are so afraid of same sex marriage.

[Lexingtonian]

10. good question

Unfortunately, we outsourced the 'straight marriage destruction' part to Oklahoma and Lousiana last quarter. After so much effort here in Mass. over the past year we're just not getting divorce rates up! We packed up the Anti-Straight Marriage Laser and now the boys are clandestinely pulverizing exposed marriages on the streets of Tulsa and OKC and Shreveport on alternate weekends. Boy, it's gonna be raining toaster ovens on payday!

</sarcasm>

Actually, on a slightly more serious note, there probably would be some marriages breaking up if gay marriage were legalized nationally. There simply still are some closeted gay people in straight marriages (parental pressure, desire to have kids) in the conservative parts of the country who would see a major lurch toward gay equality where they are as a cue to make major life changes. My older friends say there was a small wave of this here in the Northeast during the Eighties when gay rights became a reality. (Not that it was a whole lot of people, in total, but everyone with a wide social circle seems to know of a case where a woman went to her highly surprised husband and told him "Honey, I'm sorry, but we have to get a divorce. I'm lesbian and I can't live this way anymore.")

[Ian David]

11. Free Divorce Registrations

Let's get some clipboards, stand outside churches, and offer people free "Quickie Divorces" if they feel that homosexuals have destroyed their marriage.

"But Sir, how can you make love to that woman knowing that somewhere two gay men might be naked together? Wouldn't it be best just to make a clean break and get divorced now?"

[masshole1979]

12. my brother was going to marry his ho GF in june but didn't

ok, maybe it was a coincidence but I'm thankful anyway

[TaleWgnDg]

13. As a Family Law attorney in Massachusetts, lemme give you

a little background about divorce and other family law and other related legal matters:

1.) Massachusetts has the lowest divorce rate in the entire nation. This, despite what the bible-thumpers negatively rant about our Massachusetts "family values" and other such nonsense.

1.a.) Some folks erroneous tag so-called "no fault" divorce to high divorce rates -- thinking that it's easier to get a divorce u/ no fault thus the rates must be higher. WRONG! Massachusetts has no fault divorce, and we continue to have the lowest divorce rate in the country.

2.) The bible belt has the highest divorce rate in the nation. Again, this despite all their thumping about "moral values" and other such nonsense.

3.) The bible belt has the highest rate of children born out-of-marriage. Yes, the highest. Again, this is despite all their pontificating about their own "moral values" and "family values" and blaming this and that due to "feminism" and "liberalism."

4.) Massachusetts has the strongest gun control legislation in the country, and we also have the lowest gun violence in the country.

5.) The bible belt, on the other hand, has the highest gun violence in the entire nation. Again, what they say and what are the facts are miles apart!

6.) Massachusetts has the highest rate of criminal conviction of its sexual offenders than any other state in the nation. Again, we mean what we say and say what we mean here in Massachusetts.

There are many other areas both in law and non-legal issues where Massachusetts excels. The best public school system. One of the most educated populations in the country. One of the highest per capita incomes in the nation. The best colleges/universities in the entire world. One of the best educated work-forces in the nation. And, oh, yeah, the other day a national periodical awarded the City of Newton, Massachusetts (just 10 miles or less west of Boston) the safest city in the nation award. And as we all know, Newton is not rural. It's densely populated in its many villages and villes across its many areas and various zip codes.

Getting back, specifically, to same sex marriage . . . I'd enjoy listening to a bible belt person give me a rational answer why same sex marriage is going to hurt their straight marriage and/or the "institution of marriage?" This question was at issue in Goodridge v Massachusetts Department of Public Health (same sex marriage case) and raised by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court justices, and they were never given a rational legal (or otherwise) answer to their question by any of the litigating parties. Why? There is none.

Know, too, that this entire issue about "gay marriage" is all about legal rights. Rights in law. Rights granted in laws legislated by the legislature as well as case law.

The granting of a marriage license and certificate by the state also grants to married same-sex couples more than 300 or so legal rights, privileges, burdens, obligations, and duties in Massachusetts state laws. These are the rights that opposite-sex married couples already possess in Massachusetts law.

For reference, try this url: http://www.glad.org/rights/PBOsOfMarriage.pdf . . . and . . . http://www.glad.org/rights/Marriage_v_CU_chart.pdf
(Adobe Reader is necessary for these two urls).

Bottom line? Our Massachusetts constitution says that we cannot grant those state marriage rights to opposite-sex couples and not to same-sex couples. Similarly, in our federal constitution. There are more than 1,100 federal laws granted to marrieds that are not granted to non-married couples. And that's the next step; however, it may take many years.

GET INFORMED!

Tell 'em red-staters/religion-into-law-types next time, to stick it in their eye (or better yet to try a tad bit of open-mindedness)!


edited to correct typos

[Kathy in Cambridge]

14. This is great! Bookmarked!

:hi:

[TaleWgnDg]

15. ty . . . n/t