Well-Being of Children Key Aspect in Marriage Equality Ruling

WASHINGTON, United States (SND) — In a major blow to opponents of LGBT rights, the Supreme Court ruled existing bans on same-sex marriage illegal. The fourteen states where these bans are in effect will be required by law to recognize same-sex marriages.

The language of the ruling runs counter to the anti-equality narrative about children with gay or lesbian parents. Opponents of marriage equality have long argued that same-sex couples would confuse, alarm, or otherwise cause distress to children. According to The Supreme Court, however, children were a key factor in their decision.

“Many same-sex couples provide loving and nurturing homes to their children, whether biological or adopted.” The court’s statement read. “Excluding same-sex couples from marriage thus conflicts with a central premise of the right to marry. Without the recognition, stability, and predictability marriage offers, their children suffer the stigma of knowing their families are somehow lesser.”

The court’s full statement on child welfare can be read below:

“As all parties agree, many same-sex couples provide loving and nurturing homes to their children, whether biological or adopted. And hundreds of thousands of children are presently being raised by such couples. See Brief for Gary J. Gates as Amicus Curiae 4. Most States have allowed gays and lesbians to adopt, either as individuals or as couples, and many adopted and foster children have same-sex parents, see id., at 5. This provides powerful confirmation from the law itself that gays and lesbians can create loving, supportive families.

Excluding same-sex couples from marriage thus conflicts with a central premise of the right to marry. Without the recognition, stability, and predictability marriage offers, their children suffer the stigma of knowing their families are somehow lesser. They also suffer the significant material costs of being raised by unmarried parents, relegated through no fault of their own to a more difficult and uncertain family life. The marriage laws at issue here thus harm and humiliate the children of same-sex couples.”

The Supreme Court’s ruling follows a recently published study which suggested children with LGBT parents are no more likely to suffer mental or emotional distress than children with mixed-gender parents.