The Sky isn't falling?

Many defenders of same sex marriage claim that since it became legal in Massachu- setts 2 years ago, the sky has not fallen for traditional marriage. Since these same-sex marriage proponents basically argue that marriage is not about children, gay marriage does not affect Traditional Marriage. It appears however that the Dutch have bought into this argument about marriage not being about children. The Dutch have historically been known as both tolerant and traditional, but that is changing. Out-of-wedlock childbirths have skyrocketed in the last nine years, increasing 2 percentage points every year, and 2.5 points last year, to 33.5% of all births being out-of-wedlock. This increase coincides with the drive for gay marriage that started in the Netherlands in 1990. That drive brought the recognition of same-sex partnerships 9 years ago, and legal same-sex marriage 5 years ago. That's what the chart above shows

The Dutch used to be known for their liberal social policies while maintaining some degree of tradition themselves. These statistics indicate the Dutch have joined the Scandinavians in eschewing Marriage. Stanley Kurtz at National Review has written some excellent articles documenting this collapse of marriage due to same-sex unions.

http://www.nationalreview.com/kurtz/kurtz200406030910.asp

http://www.nationalreview.com/kurtz/kurtz200407210936.asp

http://www.nationalreview.com/kurtz/kurtz200602230800.asp

We can’t forget the kids in this debate, because as British demographer David Coleman and Holland's premier demographer Joop Garssen pointed out in 2002, this situation produces “burdened children reared in fragile cohabiting families.”

"Marriage is what makes fatherhood more than a biological event. Marriage is the social glue that unites the two halves of the human race to share in the enterprise of parenting--increasing the chance that children will be raised with a mother and a father." said Dr. Matt Daniels, Alliance For Marriage, AFM.