GAYS DEFEND MARRIAGE

When it rains, it pours. For the second day in a row, I have an important op-ed in a major newspaper in a marriage battleground state. The Providence Journal has a piece that grew out of my blogging and discussing the concept of a lesbian father here at GaysDefendMarriage.com. Thanks to everyone who participated in that conversation.

Some excerpts:

I believe that many lesbians make terrific mothers. It’s just that they make lousy fathers. And since I want every child to have both a mother and a father whenever possible, I think that society should privilege male-female relationships.

One way to do that is to keep the traditional definition of marriage. We learn how to be a man, and how to be a woman, and how to relate to men, and how to relate to women, from our mothers and our fathers. While many gays and feminists don’t think there is any difference between men and women, virtually every society in history has disagreed.

Even though I generally prefer children to grow up with traditional ideas about sex roles, I support the right of gays and lesbians to adopt children who would otherwise have no parents. But our society should keep its highest place of honor for families that represent the best configuration for the raising of children — families with both a mother and a father.