With much talk this past week of Michael Sam and his “kiss seen ’round the world,” I thought it was pertinent to bring up a study that many choose to ignore. I saw a lot of people on social media complaining that their children or younger siblings saw that kiss on ESPN! Oh, the horror.
With more celebrities and public figures coming out of the closet, the debate about same-sex relationships and marriage stays in the forefront of heated discussion. While people say they aren’t bigots, we have to actually question whether this is true. Sure, everyone loves Ellen! Right? I don’t know one person who openly dislikes Ellen DeGeneres. Yet, many still don’t support her intimate relationship; what a conundrum.
One reason given for opposition to?same-sex marriage is that we must protect the fabric of America that keeps children in better environments and that is traditional marriage, between one man and one woman. Now we all?know that many ?families today are broken, that single motherhood is a gigantic problem, and that there are millions of children in and out of the foster home system. I guess these realities aren’t enough for opponents to realize that our so-called traditional family system is severely flawed,?regardless of the legalities of same-sex marriage. This study from Melbourne University forces opponents to realize what may be a harsh truth for them: children of same-sex parents are just fine.
One would think that this is good news, because we want children of every stripe and background to succeed. However, those that are against same-sex marriage largely use children as ploys to perpetuate their agenda of codified discrimination. This study took 500 children raised by same-sex couples and measured them using varying markers. The study reveals:
“There was no statistical difference between children of same-sex couples and the rest of the population on indicators including self-esteem, emotional behaviour and the amount of time spent with parents. However, children of same-sex couples scored higher than the national average for overall health and family cohesion, measuring how well the family members get along.?
This family looks pretty happy to me.
Sure, there are always problems in every study. There can always be more participants, more diversity, a more complex sociological analysis of why results are what they are, etc. I have to ask though, where are the studies that have shown what opponents continuously say to be true? Where do they find the information that children would be better off in a country that only allows marriage between a man and a woman? They don’t exist. These beliefs are conjured in their own hearts and heads. If you were disgusted by the Michael Sam kiss, fine. If you like Ellen but don’t support her relationship, fine — personally. But what makes these people think that same-sex couples can’t show mild PDA or even get married because of what they personally feel? We need to call out opponents and tell them what we all know inside: they just don’t think gays are equal to them and they are coming up with all kinds of foolery to pretend to have legitimate points.
We have been seeing “convenient Christians” use Bible verses for decades to condemn same-sex marriage proponents. They don’t use these same Bible verses to condemn seafood restaurants for allowing people to eat unholy shrimp. Or we don’t see them carrying signs of support for Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia,??and other countries that show a closer resemblance in how they treat their women ?to the literal Bible than the United States does. ?We have had to deal with these people using children as an excuse for why they don’t support equality, but we must steadfastly confront these people and tell them that their beliefs aren’t just bigoted but downright untrue.
We’do not make divorce illegal or control other social structures that can potentially harm children. The issue here isn’t really about children. Our public education is in shambles; one in five children are in poverty; over one million children have been homeless at least once in any given year, and let’s not forget the crap that we feed our kids — the cheap crap that cost little upfront but costs them a fortune down the road in health expenses, not to mention non-quantifiable things like self-esteem.
Why do we suddenly seem to care so much when it comes to same-sex marriage? Out of all the things actually plaguing our children, opponents focus on something that is completely unsubstantiated. So the next time you oppose same-sex marriage and I call you a bigot and you get mad, don’t. You are probably just?using personal biases and prejudices, mixed with incendiary? lies and unfounded talking points to deny a group of people equal protection under the law.
If that’s not bigotry, what is?
Edited by D.H.
