I sent this for posting some time ago but it appears not to have been posted so I am resending it
Mr. New posted something (below) about the gay lifestyle without of course telling us what it is. But, perhaps we can get an insight into these issues by looking at divorce rate and rate of out-of-wedlock births. We might call this the hetero-sexual lifestyle. As the numbers below show, states which allow same sex marriage have substantially lower divorce rates than the average and much lower than a number of states which have adamantly attacked the idea of same sex marriages. This may not tell us must about same sex marriages but it does tell us something about the social climate in many states that oppose same sex marriage and in those that allow such unions. Below the divorce statistics are the numbers for out-of-wedlock births by states for the top 20 states for 1998 which is the most recent data I could find. This data shows that of the 20 states with the highest out-of-wedlock birth rates only four allow same sex marriages. On the other hand, in the bottom 20 for out-of-wedlock birth rates, there are 8 states that allow same sex marriage. (I did not include these but you can find them at http://www.state.ok.us/osfdocs/budget/table25.pdf) The more recent divorce statistics are at http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/tables/12s0133.pdf Perhaps Mr. New should be concerned with the heterosexual life style that leads to so many divorces and so many out-of-wedlock children, and at the same time are so fearful of same sex marriage. According to the US Census, in 2009 there were, on average, 3.4 divorces for every 1000 people in the US. Here are the 2009 divorce rates for 13 jurisdictions that allow same sex marriage (there are no 2009 statistics for California and Minn for that year but for the earlier years that the statistics are available, they are well below the national average.). Note that only 5 of these places are above the national average, and only two (Maine and Washington) are substantially above the average. Following this are the 12 states with the highest divorce rates. All prohibit same sex marriage. Some aggressively so. Note they have much higher divorce rates. Divorces per 1000 people Conn. 3.1 Delaware 3.6 DC 2.6 Iowa 2.4 Maine 4.1 Maryland 2.8 Mass 2.2 NH 3.7 NJ 2.8 NY 2.6 RI 3.0 Vt 3.5 Washington 3.9 TOP Divorce States Nevada 6.7 Arkansas 5.7 W. Va. 5.2 Wyoming 5.2 Idaho 5.0 Oklahoma 4.9 Kentucky 4.6 Alabama 4.4 Alaska 4.4 Colorado 4.2 Florida 4.2 Montana 4.1 Out of wedlock births by state: 1 Mississippi 45.5% 2 Louisiana 44.9% 3 New Mexico 44.1% 4 South Carolina 38.7% 5 Arizona 38.4% 6 Delaware 37.1% 7 Florida 36.6% 8 Georgia 36.2% 9 Arkansas 35.1% 10 New York 34.9% 11 Tennessee 34.9% 12 Nevada 34.7% 13 Maryland 34.4% 14 Alabama 34.1% 15 Missouri 34.1% 16 Illinois 34.1% 17 Ohio 34.0% 18 Rhode Island 33.9% 19 Indiana 33.4% 20 Oklahoma 33.2% ************************************************* Paul Finkelman, Ph.D. President William McKinley Distinguished Professor of Law Albany Law School 80 New Scotland Avenue Albany, NY 12208 518-445-3386 (p) 518-445-3363 (f) paul.finkel...@albanylaw.edu<mailto:paul.finkel...@albanylaw.edu> www.paulfinkelman.com<http://www.paulfinkelman.com> ************************************************* ________________________________ From: religionlaw-boun...@lists.ucla.edu [religionlaw-boun...@lists.ucla.edu] on behalf of Finkelman, Paul [paul.finkel...@albanylaw.edu] Sent: Tuesday, July 02, 2013 12:45 AM To: Law & Religion issues for Law Academics Subject: RE: Marriage -- the Alito dissent Mr. Pardee, I have just posted some statistics on divorce and out-of-wedlock births that might pass as "facts." They suggest that states that allow same sex marriages have lower divorce rates and lower out of wedlock birth rates than state that oppose same sex marriage. Might we consider this the "hetero-sexual lifestyle"? ************************************************* Paul Finkelman, Ph.D. President William McKinley Distinguished Professor of Law Albany Law School 80 New Scotland Avenue Albany, NY 12208 518-445-3386 (p) 518-445-3363 (f) paul.finkel...@albanylaw.edu<mailto:paul.finkel...@albanylaw.edu> www.paulfinkelman.com<http://www.paulfinkelman.com> ************************************************* ________________________________ From: religionlaw-boun...@lists.ucla.edu [religionlaw-boun...@lists.ucla.edu] on behalf of Brad Pardee [bp51...@windstream.net] Sent: Tuesday, July 02, 2013 12:27 AM To: 'Law & Religion issues for Law Academics' Subject: RE: Marriage -- the Alito dissent How many moral questions are based on scientific fact? Whether an argument is in support of same sex marriage/relationships or in opposition to them, it ultimately boils down to a question about what you believe is right and and what you believe is wrong, and those questions, no matter which side of the question you find yourself supporting, are rarely, if ever, supported by scientific fact. If they were, then nature's display of the law of survival of the fittest, a scientifically verified phenomena to be certain , would seem to suggest that objection to killing is irrational. Brad Pardee From: religionlaw-boun...@lists.ucla.edu [mailto:religionlaw-boun...@lists.ucla.edu] On Behalf Of Jean Dudley Sent: Monday, July 01, 2013 11:00 PM To: Law & Religion issues for Law Academics Subject: Re: Marriage -- the Alito dissent Would you kindly provide one argument that isn't irrational? Understand that it will indeed be scrutinized for basis in scientific fact, and that it if fails, it will have to be deemed irrational. On Jul 1, 2013, at Mon, Jul 1, 6:35 PM, "Esenberg, Richard" <richard.esenb...@marquette.edu<mailto:richard.esenb...@marquette.edu>> wrote: My intended point is that the notion that opposition to same sex marriage - even if based on traditional arguments about the morality of homosexual relationships - cannot be dismissed as irrational or hateful.
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