Prop 8 Witnesses: Marriage Threatened by Gays Marrying

The anti-gay Christianists are again claiming that if I were to marry the boyfriend that we'd be somehow threatening straight marriages up and down our street. Do they have any legitimate data to support their claims? Of course not. They never do because it all ultimately boils done to anti-gay discrimination based on religious belief and their desire to keep LGBT Americans inferior so as to help justify their demonizing of of hard working, constructive citizens. If they REALLY want to protect marriage, they'd be pushing for limits on divorce, government policies that support families - decent health care coverage for instance - and would oppose the big business economic mentality that views employees as disposable ciphers rather than living, breathing individuals with families to support. Here in Virginia, our new Governor Taliban Bob McDonnell is blathering about creating new jobs, yet Virginia continues to be an employment "at state" where employees have greatly reduced protections. And, of course, if one is an LGBT Virginian, you rate lower than household pets in terms of legal protections. Here are some highlights on the bullshit being peddled by Prop 8 supporters from the Washington Post:
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The head of a family values group testified Tuesday that marriage developed to provide children with clear ties to their biological parents but is in such a weakened state in the United States that extending the institution to same-sex couples could be its death blow.
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David Blankenhorn, president of the Institute for American Values, a private think tank in New York, took the stand as the second and final expert witness for the defense in the federal trial challenging California's ban on same-sex marriage. Lawyers for Proposition 8's sponsors are trying to prove the voter-approved measure serves a legitimate public purpose.
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"If we move toward a widespread adoption of same-sex marriage, I believe the effect will be to significantly further and in some respects culminate the process of the deinstitutionalization of marriage," Blankenhorn said.
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Blankenhorn acknowledged that heterosexuals were responsible for rising divorce and out-of-wedlock birth rates, but said allowing gays to marry could accelerate the process and possibly lead to the legalization of polygamy.
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David Boies, one of the lead lawyers for the two same-sex couples who sued to overturn Proposition 8, tried to discredit Blankenhorn by getting him to acknowledge that he has conducted no independent research on same-sex marriage and his only advanced degree is in comparative labor history.

"I have not engaged in a scientific study were I find data and write up an article that would be published of that nature," Blankenhorn said. "I have read articles and had conversations with people and tried to be an informed person about it, and that really has been the extent of it."
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Under cross-examination, Blankenhorn said he unaware of any studies showing that children raised by gay or lesbian couples since birth fared worse than children brought up by their biological mother and father. "Do you believe that legalizing same-sex marriage would improve the well-being of children raised by those households?" Boies asked. "Adopting same-sex marriage would be likely to improve the well-being of gay and lesbian households and their children," Blankenhorn said.
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Earlier in the day, while also facing an exhaustive cross-examination by Boies, a political scientist testifying for the defense said voters' religious views and anti-gay stereotypes played a role in the ballot measure's passage in 2008.

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The other issue not addresses, of course, is that for "family values" Christianist groups, "protecting marriage" has been a huge cash cow and has helped bolster their revenues as anti-abortion campaigns have continued to bring in less money for them. Religious bigotry and the pursuit of money = a poisonous combination.