Posted on 05/20/2007 7:37:42 AM PDT by Incorrigible
By DAN RING
BOSTON — As people marked the third anniversary of same-sex marriage this week, the state released statistics showing the number of gay marriages has dropped sharply since 2004.
According to the state Department of Public Health, 6,121 gay couples married in the first seven months after gay marriage became legal on May 17, 2004.
In 2005, 2,060 gay couples married, and in 2006, the number declined to 1,427, down 31 percent from 2005.
During this year through April 26, only 87 gay couples have tied the knot.
Patricia S. Griffin, of Belchertown, Mass., a retired professor from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst who married her longtime partner on July 10, 2004, said it makes sense that most gay people would marry in the first year. When a right is denied and then suddenly granted, people tend to take advantage of it, she said.
"People are now getting married at a more normal rate,'' said Griffin, who is married to Kathleen Neal, a public school teacher in Amherst. "It's kind of settled down.''
The statistics also show that 9,695 gay couples have married in this state. Of that total, 6,209 marriages, or 64 percent, consist of women.
Kristian M. Mineau, president of the Massachusetts Family Institute in Newton, said that if there's such a great need for same-sex marriage, then the number of married gay couples should be increasing.
"The numbers are relatively small and dwindling rapidly,'' Mineau said. "The actual institution of marriage is not being sought after by the gay community.''
Hundreds of supporters were set to celebrate the third anniversary Thursday night at a party in Boston.
"It's an historical marker,'' said Marc Solomon, campaign director of MassEquality, which sponsored the party. "We've come a long way in a few years. More than 9,000 couples are married. It's been important for them, their kids and their families.''
The state Supreme Judicial Court, voting 4-3, legalized gay marriage in November 2003.
Gov. Deval L. Patrick, a strong supporter of gay marriage, proclaimed May 17, 2007, as "Marriage Equality Day.''
Patrick opposes a move to put a question on the 2008 statewide ballot that, if approved by voters, would ban future gay marriages.
Legislators are scheduled to vote on June 14 on whether to place on the ballot in 2008 a proposed constitutional amendment that would define marriage as the union of one man and one woman.
For the proposal to go to voters, at least 50 of 200 legislators must vote to place the amendment on the ballot during two straight legislative sessions.
Sixty-two legislators voted to put the amendment on the 2008 ballot during a meeting on Jan. 2, the last day of the 2005-06 session.
Patrick, House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi, D-Boston, and Senate President Therese Murray, D-Plymouth, are pushing to persuade legislators to vote against placing the proposed question on the ballot. "Are you ready to win?'' Patrick asked supporters of gay marriage at a press conference Thursday.
Mineau said 57 legislators are currently committed to voting to place the proposal on the ballot, adding he remains confident. "We have no indication of anyone changing their vote,'' he said.
(Dan Ring is a staff writer for The Republican of Springfield, Mass. He can be contacted at dring(at)repub.com.)
Not for commercial use. For educational and discussion purposes only.
Seems to confirm the thinking of many Conservatives that the effort to bring about gay marriage is not a being used to raise the level of commitment among homosexuals but to debase the idea of marriage itself.
Well: My son is going through a dicorce right now, and believe me between lawyers ,Judges, Masters , Mediators, Parental classes. back to the Judges, Back to the mediators.Child support.
Any faggot that wants to get married needs his perverted head examined. Straights too for that matter.
Massachusetts sheeple will not be allowed to vote on this.
Period.
Never.
I would like to see the numbers of gay marriages vs gay divorces, and the number of ‘married’ gays who are no longer together but who have no intention of getting a ‘divorce’ before entering into a new relationship.
Those stats would be interesting, at least to me.
The reality of gay divorce, gay adultery, etc., has hit the gay community and its proponents at The Boston Globe very hard. While the Globe does its best to keep such stories out of the news, they still get around. The gay divorces have been especially ruthless and mean, with children usually the victims, and the rest of the state’s gay community has taken note. Remaining unmarried is increasingly attractive, just as with the straight 98%.
So gay couples account for about one tenth of one percent (20,000/6,400,000)= 0.0015 of the population of this very liberal state.
Makes you wonder how in the world these people gained such political clout. And why we would pay any attention to them in the future.
Somehow, the remark that ‘gay marriages are going down”...is just TOO easy....
Anyone who has did any research knows that homosexuality especially among the men does not lend itself to a monogamous arrangements. The number of partners that typical homosexuals have over a lifetime is staggering. Homosexuality is a disorder with several dimensions but trying to call it “normal” is not helpful. Allowing a farce of marriage is not helpful. It is only an attempt to make a silk purse out of a pigs ear. It doesn’t work and so many otherwise normal young people are denying themselves healthy heterosexual relationships because of fear and alienation that comes from joining the cult of sexual degeneration.
Yep.
Sorry to inform you but.....the psychologists now define homosexuality as a ‘variation on normal’. I asked my Professor (PhD in Developmental Psychology) friend and that’s what she told me. She wasn’t able to answer my next question....what’s normal about it?
Don't mean to get flamed, but the sheeple of Massachusetts DO get to vote on this, at least every two years, and each time they vote in favor of legalization and official support of abnormal homosexual unions by reelecting degenerates legislators who support this abominable agenda. The people got the government they deserve.
I hate to be pessimistic, and I hope I am proven wrong, but I think a voters would reject such an amendment in Massachusetts.
There’s nothing “gay” about homosexuality.
Who’d a thunk it? Sodomites don’t want to get married so much?
You don’t have to inform me of that but it doesn’t make it true. The only way you can accept such a thing is to ignore reality as well as the preponderance of scientific opinion before the sexual revolution. Homosexuality has been sold on the same tracks that Global Warming is currently being sold today. The left doesn’t change its play book they just lie when the facts don’t suit them or craft intricate ways to get around key problems with their illogic.
Homosexuality is behaviorally aberrant no matter how nice or how troubled a person may be who chooses to live out that lifestyle. We have a society today that so focuses on glossing over the obvious to satisfy our need to be nice that we indulge in the most horrid lies. Children are being sent off to die straight from school clubs and a culture that promotes homosexuality as normal. When the AIDs epidemic began and through 1994 the number of AIDs cases among teenagers was relatively small but as the Gay rights crusade and “sex education” has increased its penetration into public schools the number of AIDs cases among teenagers have skyrocketed.
http://hopkins-aids.edu/publications/report/may02_6.html
http://www.ashastd.org/pdfs/ASHA_05.final.pdf
We live in a world where the facts don’t matter where human sexuality is concerned. Instead wishful thinking and naiveté
is placing increasing numbers of people at risk. Now the kids who have gender identity questions don’t kill themselves they instead contract horrible and deadly STDs.
How compassionate is that?
Don't let the homosexual lobby hijack the language...call them what they are.
Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!
Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!
Does everyone know that the Goodridge lesbian couple, who lent their invented combined name to the lawsuit, has separated? Wonder if they will get a gay divorce eventually?
clearly, the gay activists don’t want gay marriage legalized so they can get married. They want it legal for other reasons, not so they can settle down and be monogamous and have children.
Yes, I agree completely. Hence my question to her. Our society has been so brainwashed to believe what all the ‘experts’ say. I have friends who are on hormone replacement. Every time a study comes out linking estrogen with breast cancer they panic. I always tell them to wait 6 months and a new study will come out saying the complete opposite. Whoever funds the study will get the outcome they desire. No truth or ethics in the research domain anymore.
I don’t believe homosexuality is genetic. That’s been refuted many times over. I do believe it is a personality disorder that can be conquered in some but not in others. I absolutely don’t believe it should be addressed at all in our public schools.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.