In 2008, the people of California narrowly voted in favour of Proposition 8, which led to a state constitution amendment reaffirming the original definition of marriage as only between a man and woman. Previously in California, marriage had been legally redefined to include same-sex couples. Immediately, there was a legal challenge and Prop 8 was eventually overturned. This decision was later appealed by the anti-gay-marriage folks and is still in the process of working it's way through US Supreme Court. How this case turns out could influence marriage law across the States. In cases like these, outside interest groups (intervenors) are able to submit input to be considered by the courts. Typically this is in the form of an amicus brief, or report to the court. The American Sociological Association recently submitted the amicus linked below. It is a fantastic review of the research on same-sex parenting and demolishes the claims that stable, same-sex parent families are unhealthy for children. Here's a particularly poignant quote:
The social science consensus is both conclusive and clear: children fare just as well when they are raised by same-sex parents as when they are raised by opposite sex parents. This consensus holds true across a wide range of child outcome indicators and is supported by numerous nationally representative studies. Accordingly, assuming that either DOMA or Proposition 8 has any effect on whether children are raised by opposite-sex or same-sex parents, there is no basis to prefer opposite-sex parents over same-sex parents and neither DOMA nor Proposition 8 is justified. The research supports the conclusion that extension of marriage rights to same-sex couples has the potential to improve child wellbeing insofar as the institution of marriage may provide social and legal support to families and enhances family stability, key drivers of positive child outcomes.
Read the whole report here.