THE EUROPEAN FAMILY DEBATE: Maggie Gallagher replies to Jari Koskisuu

Jari Koskisuu writes: "The same kind of phenomenon has happened in deeply Catholic Italy, where gay unions have no recogntition whatsoever."

Maggie replies: Actually Italy has a very different marriage problem, not the "same kind of problem" at all. Italy has very low rates of divorce and unmarried childbearing, fairly high rates of marriage. But Italian women have pretty much stopped having more than one child, leading to massive depopulation.

Jari writes: "Personally I think that if marriage as a concept is so weak that it does not stand the existence of legal recognition of gay unions, maybe it is time for that institution to go."

Maggie: In my experience most advocates of same-sex marriage take a very similar position: what's important is formal equality. Marriage is not very important as a social institution. If necessary, it can go.

But what if marriage really is necessary, in the sense that cultures that lose their commitment to the marriage idea have an extremely difficult time perpetuating themselves? What if we really do need marriage?
posted by Eve at 9:42 AM VOTE

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