Marilyn Stowe Blog

Sociologist claims gay marriage “breaks the link” between marriage and parenthood

Sociologist Dr Patricia Morgan has claimed that the legalisation of gay marriage will accelerate the decline of heterosexual marriage by breaking the cultural link between marriage and parenthood.

She made the claims in a lengthy submission to the committee stage of the Government’s Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill. The bill passed its second reading in the House of Commons last month.

In this she claimed that heterosexual marriage rates continue to decline in countries and areas where same sex marriage has already been legalised, such as Scandinavia, Spain, Belgium, Canada and some US states.

A continuing decline in heterosexual marriage accelerated sharply in the five years since Spain legalised same sex marriage in 2005, her submission states, with the rate of decline doubling between 2008 and 2010.

Dr Morgan wrote:

“From what we know about demographic trends, it is preposterous to argue that people suddenly somehow embrace marriage and slow or reverse its decline because homosexuals can have it. We can be certain that same sex marriage will do no such thing as encourage stable marriage whether for heterosexuals and/or homosexuals. Marriage in Scandinavia, Spain, Netherlands and elsewhere is in deep decline.”

Same sex marriage represented the idea that marriage was only “couple relationships” and not “intrinsically connected to parenthood”, she continued.

“As marriage is redefined to accommodate same-sex couples, this reinforces the irrelevance of marriage to parenthood. Elsewhere, same sex marriage is an instigator for the casualisation of heterosexual unions and separation of marriage and parenthood.”

Photo by AirBeagle via Flickr under a Creative Commons license