GOOD NEWS AND BAD NEWS IN MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE STATISTICS: Mark Regnerus

blogs:

...The action is largely on the marriage side of the equation: the marriage rate has dropped 17 percent in 10 years, while the divorce rate has dropped 10 percent. The two tend to rise and fall together, but clearly not tightly so. People are being more selective about marrying, likely, and as a result there are fewer divorces.

Third, some states exhibit dramatically different stories here. The marriage rate in Mississippi has dropped 48 percent in 20 years (from 1990 to 2010), while their divorce rate has dropped 22 percent. Their ratio of new marriages to divorce is now 1.14-to-1, meaning that if you were going to go ahead and misinterpret that statistic the old-fashioned way, you’d say something like 88 percent of all marriages in Mississippi will end in divorce. Of course we don’t know the future, and any given year’s new marriages aren’t often also reflected as divorces that year—Hollywood goofballs notwithstanding—but the ratio tells us that there are nearly as many divorces in Mississippi now as there are marriages. Not good.

So which state has the best ratio? Which means (to me at least) the most marriages relative to divorces…the blessed state of my birth: Iowa, where 2.9 new marriages were registered in 2010 for every one divorce. Sociologist Maria Kefalas wrote about Iowa as having many “marriage naturalists,” and it appears so. Even though I’ve been gone from the place since I was 13, cultural traces remain, no doubt.

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Labels: cohabitation, culture, divorce, Hawaii, Iowa, Mark Regnerus, Marriage, Mississippi, North Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia

posted by Eve at 12:20 AM VOTE

Few Takers for Gay Marriage in Vermont

according to this story from the Rutland Herald:

Very quietly – and with little fanfare – same-sex Vermonters have begun filling out the necessary paperwork to get married next month.

Vermont town clerks began offering civil marriage license applications to same-sex couples this month as the Sept. 1 start of the state's new law allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry draws near. ...

So far, very few same-sex couples in Vermont seem to be lining up to get the applications, although more than two weeks remains in the month before the start of the new law. ...

In Montpelier, the state capital of 8,000 where supporters and opponents of same-sex marriage battled just months ago, no gay or lesbian couples have yet to ask for a civil marriage license application, according to City Clerk Charlotte Hoyt.

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Labels: civil unions, gay marriage, Vermont

posted by Imapp Staff at 3:44 PM VOTE

In VT Gay Marriage Law, A Hidden Victory for Religious Freedom: David Benkof

in the NY Daily News:

A little-noticed clause in the gay marriage bill recently passed in Vermont offers hope that the gay marriage trend may finally be starting to incorporate some of the concerns and needs of traditionally religious Americans as it spreads across the country.

Echoing the names of gay marriage bills in other states, the Vermont law is entitled "An Act to Protect Religious Freedom and Recognize Equality in Civil Marriage." Such titles in other states are Orwellian - those acts only purport to protect churches from having to marry same-sex couples, which is unconstitutional anyway. So far, same-sex marriage has had no regard for actual religious freedom.

Until Vermont.

The Green Mountain State's new law says in its "Public Accommodations" section that religious groups "shall not be required to provide services, accommodations, advantages, facilities, goods or privileges to an individual if the request . . . is related to the solemnization of a marriage or celebration of a marriage." It also bars civil lawsuits against religious groups that refuse to provide goods or services to same-sex weddings.

Now, the Vermont Clause certainly could go farther. I would like to see protections for individuals - not just organizations. Still, it's a vast improvement over the other states that have implemented gay marriage without concern for its repercussions on the traditionally religious.

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Labels: gay marriage, religious liberty, Vermont

posted by Imapp Staff at 8:53 AM VOTE

GAY MARRIAGE'S EARNED VICTORY: Kyle Smith

in the NY Post:

...The Bible is about you and your soul, and if you think your neighbor is going to hell you can't stop him. And if you think gay relationships are immoral, surely it's the physical act that bothers you, not the signing of licenses, not the public vows of love and fidelity, not the matching tuxedos. Not the smiling faces. Yet few will make the case for police investigations of what people do between the sheets.

"Same-sex marriage," wrote Maggie Gallagher in National Review, "asks religious Americans," by which she means Christian Americans, "to surrender a core belief -- not only Leviticus (disapproval of gay sexual acts), but Genesis (the idea that God himself made man as male and female and commanded men and women to come together in a special way to image the fruitfulness of God)." But Christians are surrendering nothing. They remain free to disapprove of homosexuality just as they remain free to disapprove of their neighbor's alcoholism or adultery or bad taste in lawn ornaments. They also remain free to move to a country that enforces religious views. ...

As older generations are replaced by young voters, acceptance of gay marriage will become the norm. Opponents will seem marginal, perhaps even despicable. An Iowa poll released this month put statewide support for gay marriage at 36% -- but nearly 60% among voters under 30.

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Labels: gay marriage, religious liberty, Vermont

posted by Eve at 8:43 AM VOTE

Demographic Winter Heralds Same-Sex Marriage Spring: Jennifer Roback Morse

at MercatorNet:

...The gay rights movement has targeted New England for their “6 by 12” strategy of having same sex marriage in all six of the New England states by 2012. This strategy makes sense from their point of view. They already have same sex marriage in Massachusetts and Connecticut, by judicial fiat. In addition, New England is less religious than the rest of the country. And this is a region which has already given up on having babies as a viable way to create a future.

A priest from Vermont recently told me what it is like to minister in one of the least religious states in America. It has one of the highest proportions of the population who consider themselves “unaffiliated” with any religious tradition, at 26 per cent, compared with 16 per cent of the US population. Only 23 per cent of the Vermont population attends church services at least once a week, compared with 39 per cent of the general US population. The priest has had one wedding in the past year, and that was a couple in their fifties. He has perhaps one or two baptisms per year. It sounded rather grim, and a lot like Europe. ...

Vermont has the lowest total fertility rate of any state in the union: 1.66 babies per woman. (Note: you have to click on the link for the excel file to see the birth rates.) While you’re looking at the table, please notice that the six New England states, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, are in the “top ten” of the lowest total fertility rate states in the country. Not surprisingly, Vermont has a low population growth rate compared with the rest of the country: Vermont’s population grew 2 per cent between 2000 and 2007, while the entire country grew by 7.2 per cent over the same period.

None of these states are replacing themselves with births. All of them have net out-migration: more people left between 2006 and 2007 than moved into the New England states. See pages 5 and 6 here.

Taking this demographic malaise together with the general low religious practice, the whole region is a sitting duck for the further de-construction of marriage. And make no mistake: instituting same sex marriage amounts to the de-construction of marriage.

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Labels: demographics, gay marriage, Vermont

posted by Imapp Staff at 12:01 PM VOTE

Gay Marriage in VT Faces Veto by Governor: NY Times

reports:

Gov. Jim Douglas of Vermont said Wednesday that he would veto a same-sex marriage bill if it reached his desk, setting a new hurdle for a measure that had been moving swiftly through the legislature.

But Mr. Douglas, a Republican, also said that “legislative leaders would not have advanced this bill if they did not have the votes to override a veto.”

Mr. Douglas opposes same-sex marriage but for weeks declined to say whether he would veto the bill, which the Democratic leaders of the Senate and House have embraced. The Senate overwhelmingly approved the bill Friday, and a House committee is hearing testimony on it this week. ...

Mr. Douglas said in a statement that it was not his normal policy to announce whether he would veto a bill before it passed the legislature, but that the debate around same-sex marriage had grown too intense to avoid.

“During these extraordinary times,” he said, “the speculation about my decision has added to the anxiety of the moment and further diverts attention from our most pressing issues, and I cannot allow that to happen.”

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Labels: gay marriage, Vermont

posted by Imapp Staff at 9:43 AM VOTE

Gay Marriage Advances in Vermont: Bennington Banner

reports:

The Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approved a same-sex marriage bill Friday, and it is now expected to be taken up Monday by the full Senate.

After a week of emotional and sometimes intense debate, the committee voted to advance the bill on a 5-0 vote. Sen. Kevin Mullin of Rutland County, the lone Republican on the committee, voted in favor of the bill after an amendment he proposed seeking a statewide referendum on the issue was defeated.

The committee spent much of the week taking testimony on the bill. Business leaders and clergy spoke out about the economic and societal impact the bill may have. And a public hearing Wednesday evening drew about 1,000 people, packing the House chamber and several overflow rooms. ...

Vermont would be the first state to adopt same-sex marriage without a court order if the bill becomes law.

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Labels: gay marriage, Vermont

posted by Imapp Staff at 7:29 AM VOTE

Vermont SSM hearing on TV

Channel 17/ Town Meeting TV will stream live coverage of the Joint Vermont House and Senate Judiciary Committee public hearing on the proposed gay marriage bill today, March 18 from 6 p.m. – 8 p.m. at www.Channel17.org. The hearing will also be aired on Channel 17, (on Comcast and Burlington Telecom) on Friday, March 20 at 10:45 p.m. and Saturday, March 21 at 3:45 a.m. and 9:45 a.m.

The Vermont Legislature is considering a law that would make same sex marriage legal. Today's public hearing is the first joint committee meeting on the issue.
http://www.cctv.org/news/same-sex-marriage-hearing-streaming-live-tonight-318-6-pm

Labels: gay marriage, Vermont

posted by Imapp Staff at 5:12 AM VOTE

Vermont Updates

No Time for Gay Marriage Debate: MSNBC

With 20,000 citizens now out of a job, and unemployment at its highest level in 17 years, Vermont's Republican Gov. Jim Douglas urged state lawmakers to focus exclusively on job creation and economic growth in the final weeks of their session. Douglas said there is no time for "divisive issues" like same-sex marriage this spring. ...

Again Thursday, Douglas expressed his opposition to a marriage bill, saying Vermont's civil union law is sufficient. Pressed by reporters to explain his position, Douglas said "I believe marriage, as our statute says, is a union of a man and a woman."

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Lawmaker Wishes Same-Sex Marriage Had Waited: Associated Press

A key lawmaker whose committee will take up a gay marriage bill says he wishes the issue had been put off.

State Sen. Dick Sears, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, says his panel isn't happy about having to address the issue in the session that ends in May. The panel just finished work on sex offender legislation, and starting Monday will host hearings on gay marriage.

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Labels: gay marriage, Vermont

posted by Imapp Staff at 5:48 AM VOTE

VT Gay Marriage Bill Pros Louder than Cons: Associated Press

reports:

One side has hired a lobbyist, aired TV and radio advertisements, and staged a series of public events in hopes of getting its message out.

The other has yet to hit the airwaves, hold a news conference or make a major public push beyond appealing for support on its own Web sites. With Vermont lawmakers poised to begin a week's worth of hearings on a bill that would legalize gay marriage, groups in favor of the idea have been maintaining a higher profile than those opposed to it.

"Something will happen," said the Rev. Craig Bensen, president of Take It to The People, a group that opposes same-sex marriage. "We'll be there for the hearings." ...

Before the hearings, it's been a one-sided discourse. The Vermont Freedom to Marry Task Force has hired the Montpelier lobbying firm of Kimbell, Sherman & Ellis, and began airing TV commercials March 5 that feature couples talking about marriage equality.

It has held news events all week: Tuesday, it was mental health and human service organizations saying children of lesbian and gay parents are as likely as those of heterosexual parents to flourish. Wednesday, it was 181 members of the Vermont clergy vowing their support for the right of same-sex couples to participate in civil marriage. Today, representatives of more than 250 Vermont lawyers are to announce their support.

By contrast, neither Take It to The People nor Vermont Renewal, a Rutland-based opponent of same-sex marriage, has held a public event or aired a single commercial.

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Labels: gay marriage, Vermont

posted by Imapp Staff at 1:15 AM VOTE

VT Gov. Opposes Same-Sex Marriage: Times-Argus

reports:

A few days after Democratic legislative leaders pledged to make gay marriage a top priority Gov. James Douglas on Tuesday used stronger language than he has in the past to express his opposition to the bill on a variety of fronts.

"I don't support it. I really believe the civil union law we have now is sufficient," Douglas said during a meeting of The Times-Argus editorial board. "I don't see the need to have … a divisive debate about this topic."

With support of lawmakers – including likely a few Republicans – the bill creating gay marriage in Vermont is likely to reach Douglas ' desk. Then the governor will have three choices: He could sign the bill, giving it his support; he could let it become law without his signature; or he could veto it.

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Labels: gay marriage, Vermont

posted by Imapp Staff at 4:15 AM VOTE