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Loading ...Vermont mental health groups back gay marriage
03.10.2009 1:02pm EDT
(Burlington, Vermont) Vermont mental health professionals are backing legislation to allow same-sex couples to marry.
The Vermont Psychiatric Association, the Vermont Psychological Association, the Vermont Mental Health Counselor Association and the Vermont chapter of the National Association of Social Workers said in a joint statement that arguments by opponents of same-sex marriage who claim it is not in the best interest of children to allow gays and lesbians to marry are wrong.“Children of lesbian and gay parents are as likely as those of heterosexual parents to flourish,” the statement said.
The statement was released at a news conference by the groups.
“No study has shown that outcomes for children of single-sex families are any less positive than outcomes for children in heterosexual families,” said Jackie Weinstock, an associate professor at the University of Vermont and a spokesperson for the four groups.
Steve Cable, of the Vermont Marriage Advisory Council which opposes gay marriage, said the groups are using inconclusive science to back a political agenda.
The Vermont Legislature is expected to take up a marriage equality bill next week. The legislation has 59 sponsors in the House – all Democrats.
Vermont was the first state in the country to legalize civil unions in 2000. Since then, LGBT groups have criticized the law for creating a “two tiered” system – marriage for opposite-sex couples and civil unions for gays.
An 11-member commission was set up last year by Senate President Pro Tempore Peter Shumlin (D) and Speaker of the House Shap Smith (D).
The commission submitted its report to the legislature last April, but made no recommendations on revising the law to allow for same-sex marriage.
Last week, Shumlin, who spearheaded the civil union bill nine years ago, said that the civil union law hasn’t kept up with the times. Massachusetts and Connecticut allow same-sex marriage and gay marriage bills are under consideration in Maine and New Hampshire.
But if the bill passes the legislature it is doubtful Republican Gov. James Douglas will sign it. Douglas through a spokesperson said that the governor believes civil unions are sufficient.
I wonder how Governor Douglas would feel if his marriage was of a 2nd class status? Would that be “sufficient” for him? How kind of him to determine what is “sufficient” for a whole class of people that does not include himself. Moron.
FU*K James Douglas!! That old F*ck conservative needs to mosey on down the road into the retirement home for elderly bigots! I can only hope that his veto can be over ridden! Let’s all keep our fingers crossed! =))
Shawn – I certainly hope so, adding a new gay marriage state would certainly help soften the blow should the CA courts not strike down Prop. 8.
I wonder how any other group of people in this country would feel if their civil rites were put up to a popular vote… this would likely be a very different country if they were.
Now, I haven’t read the statement issued by mental health professionals in Vermont…but why haven’t those mental health professionals mentioning the pyschological distress suffered by the glbt community b/c of the government’s systemic discrimination against them??
Everett – that is a very good point.
I know this is like deja vu, but as I said before (of the Family Research Council about a week ago), if you want to know how good of an argument the Vermont Marriage Advisory Council has, look at their research.
Go to their website. Look at their statistics. They will tell you that… um… er… there’s gotta be some actual evidence, right?
What you will find on their website as “proof” against same-sex marriage (and parenting, since they’re throwing kids into it) is nothing more than a collection of surveys that are misinterpreted and research (a good portion of which leads to non-scientific studies) that gives no proper explanation.
To sum it up, the Vermont Marriage Advisory Council has a poor argument against same-sex marriage.
Just think, if the anti-gay activists actually HAD any hard evidence against us, don’t you think they would make it WELL KNOWN to the rest of the world?
Consensus in VT is that the anti-marriage group is full of hot air.
From a local blog inhabited by media types: http://www.greenmountaindaily.com/showDiary.do;jsessionid=C1DCD3E32D92CD1F770EA3B92B22BA25?diaryId=4143
“The Idiocy of Opposing Same-Sex Marriage”
“Cable [local anti-marriage guy] is not an idiot. He knows how to manipulate things to pretend they suit his agenda.
“What Cable is doing here is appealing to a cadre of useful idiots: trying to pretend that science supports him, giving them cover for their bigotry.
“Facts are on our side here, and he’s going to lose, eventually, but the real question is whether it will be in months, years, or decades.
“Vermont was on the right side of history when this first came up, before anyone else in the union was. Now is not the time to end up on the wrong side.”
Consensus in VT is that the anti-marriage group is full of hot air.
From a local blog inhabited by media types: http://www.greenmountaindaily.com/showDiary.do;jsessionid=C1DCD3E32D92CD1F770EA3B92B22BA25?diaryId=4143
“The Idiocy of Opposing Same-Sex Marriage”
“Cable (local anti-marriage guy) is not an idiot. He knows how to manipulate things to pretend they suit his agenda.
“What Cable is doing here is appealing to a cadre of useful idiots: trying to pretend that science supports him, giving them cover for their bigotry.
“Facts are on our side here, and he’s going to lose, eventually, but the real question is whether it will be in months, years, or decades.
“Vermont was on the right side of history when this first came up, before anyone else in the union was. Now is not the time to end up on the wrong side.”
Wow. While there are still mental health professionals that think we are sick (see NARTH), some prestigious groups are backing us now. Now someone should just tell that to Butler County Child Services Agency director Michael Fox.
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