Defense of Marriage Stabilizes Marriage for New Yorkers

The debate over marriage in New York has taken on some new details in New York, a state that does not have any sort of protection for marriage in terms of a constitutional amendment, or a state defense of marriage act. One State Senator has proposed a Defense of Marriage Bill for that state.
According to the New York Daily News, at http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2011/05/sen-golden-brings-ny-defense-of-marriage-bill, this bill would reverse former Governor Patterson's Executive Order that mandated recognition of same sex marriages performed in other states. The text of this bill can be found at http://open.nysenate.gov/legislation/bill/S5416-2011.
Stable marriage laws are at the core of family restoration. This fact is particularly important in light of uncertain economic times. New research by Professors June Carbone and Naomi Cahn suggest that women are getting married at later ages - and that the divorce rate is going down. "The results reflect some good news -- later marriages are more likely to last. Most importantly, however, these figures correlate with widespread changes in the American family." See their article in the Huffington Post entitled Changing Marriage Patterns Reflect Economics and Class at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/june-carbone/changing-marriage-pattern_b_864688.html.
Marriage is critical to family restoration, and expanding it will not stabilize family life in New York, or in America generally. More journalists and scholars are writing on why same sex marriage will not work for a stable society.
"Throughout its grand history, America has regularly been willing to reevaluate cultural norms, especially when the change that challenges the status quo promises to right a wrong or advance and improve the social welfare. Many of these watershed movements have delivered precisely and as powerfully as promised (woman's suffrage and civil rights) while others have failed (prohibition and no-fault divorce). Historically, American voters have been blunt in evaluating the wisdom of social change. When a bad idea, which was originally considered to be good, slips through and into law, the American people haven't been shy about fighting for its repeal and holding corresponding leaders to account. With the benefit of the new media and widespread access to endless streams of data, voters are now able to even more quickly discern fact from fiction and evidence from mere promise. It's in part from this context that ... the ongoing marriage debate in the New York state legislature [is significant]. Governor Andrew Cuomo has declared the legalization of same-sex marriage his number one priority. Supporters are waging a clever, celebrity- driven and well-funded campaign, suggesting that all they want is 'marriage equality.' In fact, what they want to do is redefine this multi-millennial institution."
Read the entire article at: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2011/05/24/sex-marriage-experiment-work/#ixzz1NwxNhZC7, or at http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2011/05/24/sex-marriage-experiment-work/?test=faces
Costa Rica may be an example for New York to look to, as that nation has recently ruled on a same sex marriage case, rejecting that such an arrangement fosters family stability as established by that nations code. Read the article from the Daily News at http://www.insidecostarica.com/dailynews/2011/may/25/costarica11052502.htm.
New York's battle for marriage law is a battle over societal stability in uncertain times. Stable marriage laws are at the core of family restoration, and New Yorkers and their elected representatives will play out this scenario before the world this summer.