Gay Marriage and Divorce

Compiled by David Pakman

          One of the issues at the forefront of this past election, and in general in society at the moment is the issue of Cruise over 3 Million Gay Profiles for gay marriage. As a general rule, liberals are in favor of gay marriage, while conservatives are opposed to it. There is significant concern amount the conservative, anti-gay marriage community about protecting marriage. Note: Gay marriage in Canada has been legalized, but this article will deal specifically with gay marriage within the United States.

          A very interesting trend that I came across doing some simple research is that those states most concerned with preventing gay marriage seem to have the highest divorce rates, and also tend to have the lowest gay populations. On the other hand, the blue states, and some red states with above average gay populations such as Georgia, Louisianan, and Arizona, have lower divorce rates. In short, the states with the lowest concern with preventing and fear of gay marriage and the so-called "protection" of marriage are the ones which seem to have the highest rate of successful marriages, all the while having the higher rate of gay couples as well.

          The numbers are clear, but what is more difficult to determine is what is the cause, and what is the effect here? Some would argue that the red states have no place in preventing or allowing marriage since they seem to the the ones having the most trouble maintaining marriages as it is. Another way to look at it is that because the red states recognize their problem with high divorce rates, they feel allowing gay marriage would/could exacerbate the problem further, and take away from their ability to solve the existing problem.