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Marriage equality became the law of the land in Massachusetts in 2004. We’ve all heard the naysayers predict the resulting destruction of marriage, the family, the universe, etc. etc.
“[Marriage equality] is a social weapon of mass destruction,” said Rev. Lou Sheldon. … “It would destroy civilization as we know it,” Sheldon said.
Well, a new CDC report shows that the divorce rate in Massachusetts, the state were it all started, well, I’ll let Rachel give you the good news:
Oh but first, a warning. If you’re an anti-equality bigot, this may hurt. You may want to plug your ears.
Five years ago, Massachusetts became the first state to legalize same-sex marriage. And despite all the dire warnings, the sky did not fall down on the day a man was allowed to marry a man and a woman was allowed to marry a woman in the bay state.
In fact, the institution of marriage is alive and well and thriving in Massachusetts. New provisional government statistics show that, in 2008, Massachusetts had the lowest divorce rate in the country. Ta-da!
The rate of divorces in Massachusetts was 2.2 per thousand when gay people started getting married in Massachusetts. The rate of divorces per thousand is now down even further to 2.0 per thousand. That’s the lowest divorce rate in the country. In fact, Massachusetts divorce rates are now down to pre World War 2 levels. 1940.
So, awkwardly, turns out gay marriage is a defense of marriage act.
Thanks flyerfier for the transcript!
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TranscriptFive years ago, Massachusetts became the first state to legalize same-sex marriage. And despite all the dire warnings, the sky did not fall down on the day a man was allowed to marry a man and a woman was allowed to marry a woman in the bay state.
In fact, the institution of marriage is alive and well and thriving in Massachusetts. New provisional government statistics show that, in 2008, Massachusetts had the lowest divorce rate in the country. Ta-da!
The rate of divorces in Massachusetts was 2.2 per thousand when gay people started getting married in Massachusetts. The rate of divorces per thousand is now down even further to 2.0 per thousand. That’s the lowest divorce rate in the country. In fact, Massachusetts divorce rates are now down to pre World War 2 levels. 1940.
So, awkwardly, turns out gay marriage is a defense of marriage act.
I love MaddowShe one of the few “anchors” who actually backs up her viewpoints with actual facts. Even Olbermann can go off on tangents and be snippy, condensending, and at times sexist while trying to get across his message.
Maddow does her homework and slams people with the facts and then watches them dance. Her handling of Dick Armey was classic.
This puts the NOMr’s to SHAME!!!
Rachel rocks!Saw this last night; go Massachusetts!!
Marriage Equality = Defense of MarriageNow we, the LGBT community, need to run with this.
Save a MarriageRide a gay cowboy?
WooHoo!!!
Correlation does not imply causationThere is no rational basis for denying LGBTQ? people the right to marry, and since I am sure that you know all the refutations for the spurious arguments that homophobes make, I won’t list them all here. That is one of the reasons why I am a straight ally and am in favour of marriage equality.
However, this post has a serious problem. Correlation does not imply causation. The fact that Massachusetts allows marriage equality does not automatically mean that marriage equality is causing a lower divorce rate. It may well be doing so, but a simple correlation is not enough to demonstrate that.
Allowing same-sex marriage would mean that there are more marriages (because now the whole adult population has access to the institution). Going by raw numbers alone, this strengthens marriage. In addition, by not causing extramarital same-sex sex, and not necessitating mix-orientation marriages where the homosexual individual individual is unhappy because they go against their sexual orientation. If happiness in marriage could was measured, this would strengthen marriage, all else equal. Hence, by avoiding these things, marriage equality in Massachusetts may well be strengthening marriage and reducing the number of divorces, but a simple correlation is not enough to show this.
of courseof course correlation does not imply causation. but it sure does blow the hate-mongers talking points out of the water. enjoy it for what it is – a pin in the bigotry hot air balloon.
Comments at Town Hall “Defending Marriage in Troubled Times” H Jackson.I just posted this little ditty for “Bishop” Jackson to read:
Michael
Location: MD
Reply # 355
Date: Sep 4, 2009 – 2:58 PM EST The Facts About American Marriage
The facts are in from the CDC: Since same-sex marriage has been instituted in Massachusetts, the divorce rate has declined http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/n… Stick that in your pipe and smoke it “Bishop”.
But *lack* of correlationis a pretty significant indicator of lack of causation. If gay marriages caused the sort of extreme disturbances in heterosexual marriage that the hetero-supremacists claim, there are consequences we should expect to see in places where marriage equality has been put into place — and we don’t see those consequences.
In fact, we’re seeing the opposite of those consequences.
Naw, that’s Marion Berry’s pipe
I expected petey or kevinchi to say that…maybe they are on vacation.
not on vacationand gay cowboys works for me
http://farm2.static.flickr.com…
http://www.bigwolfexpeditions….
Yes, but her handling of Tom Ridge was even better!!!She could hardly contain her fury that he would not say that the Iraq war was wrongly instigated. In fact, she had to calm down and come back the next night and explain why she was so upset with his answer.She had wanted to find one Republican who would tell the truth not lies. Hasn't to date.
One correction, Ms. Maddow:WWII began on July 7, 1937 (The date on which war was declared between China and Japan) so by 1940 it was well into its third year.