America has embarked on a social experiment by redefining marriage. This experiment
will continue no matter how the Supreme Court rules on the two cases they heard last month. We
already have states that have legalized same-sex marriage, and we have same-sex couples who
are raising children. This social experiment has been taking place in Europe for many years. As I
document in my book, A Biblical Point of View on Homosexuality, the impact counterfeit
marriage is having on traditional marriage is not good.

What will be the impact of same-sex marriage on children? Nelson Lund, writing in The
Wall Street Journal, challenges the idea that there won’t be any negative impact. He points out
that the many briefs filed with the Supreme Court argued that there was “no evidence” of bad
effects from child rearing by same-sex couples. He says we can put it another way. There is “no
reliable evidence that such child-rearing practices are beneficial or harmless.” Unfortunately,
various social-science advocacy groups have been promoting the myth that a lack of evidence
implies the nonexistence of such effects.

Proponents often cite the National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study. As I have
discussed in a previous commentary, the study had its flaws. The sample was recruited at lesbian
events, women’s bookstores, and through lesbian newspapers. The sample sizes were small, and
much of the research “relied on reports by parents about their children’s well-being while the
children were still under the care of those parents.”

Contrast that with another study I discussed in a previous commentary. This study by
Mark Regnerus (a sociologist at University of Texas at Austin) was a large randomized sample
of grown children rather than their parents. His study found these children “were at a significant
disadvantage with respect to a number of indicators of well being.”

Soon we will have more data as America pursues this social experiment in redefining
marriage. I am not optimistic.