The Negative Effects of Gay Marriage

Writing in the journal, First Things, this month, regular contributor R.R. Reno cites the destructive effects gay marriage has had on our society. We acknowledge the infinite worth and value of gay men and women and the transgendered. They  are created in the image of God and are welcome at the foot of the cross. They are welcome in our churches. Nonetheless, our society’s attempts to validate the gay lifestyle through gay marriage has had harmful consequences.

Gay marriage was sold as an unalloyed good. Here was something that would affirm an oppressed minority without any tradeoffs. No harm of any kind would be done. But our cultural elite was wrong and Reno tells why. In his words, “Our elites have destroyed structures that foster healthy lives.”

Among lower class Americans marriage is collapsing and this is a catastrophe. 40% of American babies are born out of wedlock and this is the strongest predictor of every social pathology. Poverty, poor performance in school, drug abuse, crime, and the perpetuation of more illegitimacy are the results. And Reno ties the collapse of marriage to the rise of gay marriage. Our cultural elite have depreciated marriage as an institution in order to achieve one of their social ideals and it is doing enormous harm to millions of people, especially children.

The collapse of marriage means more people living alone. Among Americans ages 20-50 that number is approaching 40%. If there is one thing the Bible is right about it’s this. It’s not good for a man to live alone. All kinds of destructive behaviors arise from loneliness.

Reno observes: “It does not take a graduate degree in psychology to recognize that children need clear pathways toward adult life as men and women. Nor does it take a degree in sociology to see that those pathways are precisely what we have systematically denied to children, often in the interest of making our society more “inclusive.””

We are undermining the examples of male-female relationships that children desperately need if they are to be successful adults. This full scale assault on traditional partnerships by what Reno calls the Rainbow Reich has now produced the logical result of gender dysphoria. Gay liberation was never really about legal rights. It was always about changing social attitudes.

The assault on traditional morality is a constant obsessive theme in Hollywood. About 25% of Americans are Protestant Evangelical Christians with millions more Roman Catholics and other traditional groups. Gay men and women make up about 1-2% of our population. Which are you more likely to see on Netflix? A gay character or a born-again Christian? So far as Hollywood is concerned, we don’t exist.

Reno concludes: “No doubt the severe decline of norms that privilege marriage, family, and heterosexual coupling has been beneficial for a small class of people whose desires are abnormal. But for the majority of Americans these changes have come at a great cost…. it has meant transferring resources, social prestige, political power, and legal privileges to those whose desires are disordered.”

The greatest key to happiness in life is successful family life. The most effective way of turning children into functioning adults is family life. The greatest antidote to crime, poverty, poor health, suicide and every other human misery is stable family life. 

Reno discusses a Bible passage that I have cited many times on this channel—Romans 1. Beginning with verse 18 Paul asserts that the rejection of God has resulted in the destructive downward spiral of society. By rejecting God we think we are wise, but we are fools, our hearts are darkened, we worship idols, and we live destructive lives.

Again, Reno says, “St. Paul’s testimony helps us see that gay liberation epitomizes these unhappy developments. Unlike contraception, which operates in the private realm, gay liberation demands that we celebrate that which cannot produce new life. Pride parades are like processions to temples filled with idols….We cannot celebrate what is objectively disordered—ordered away from the natural acts that give life—without contributing to a social consensus darkened to the promptings of a living God.”

But in the midst of this gloom there is great hope. The Gospel is still the power of God unto salvation.  Many, from every imaginable orientation, are finding new life in Christ. They find forgiveness, hope, happiness, a host of wonderful new relationships. And at the end of it all, eternal life.

One of my children once asked me, “Dad, what can I personally do to address the great evils of our age.” I told her, keep doing what you are doing. Raise godly children, love your husband, serve your church and community. As millions of people like you do this then the fresh winds of revival will blow across America and a new day will dawn.

Thank you for listening. May our wonderful and glorious God bless you this day in a mighty way.

More: R.R. Reno: The Harms of Gay Marriage; https://www.firstthings.com/article/2022/11/harms-done-by-gay-marriage

Even though it is legal, gay men and women do not tend toward the kind of committed relationships that marriage calls for. Look at these Gallup numbers and ponder what they mean: https://news.gallup.com/poll/329975/one-lgbt-americans-married-sex-spouse.aspx