Children like me need a voice in gay marriage debate: Column

USA Today 27 April 2015
My mother has been in a committed relationship with another woman for nearly 30 years. And I am the co-author of a Supreme Court amicus brief in favor of allowing states to affirm marriage as the union of one man and one woman in their laws.

Given the fact that my mother and I enjoy a close, loving relationship, and I believe that every American — gay or straight — should be permitted to form consensual adult unions of their choosing, how could I take that position?

Buried under a pile of tweets, blogs and articles that fixate on the religious-liberty side of this debate, you’ll find the often silent “rational basis” for heterosexual marriage. The other side of the debate is populated by those who cannot speak for, let alone organize, themselves: children.

Historically, marriage laws have served to reinforce the relationship between parents and children, particularly, to attach fathers to their children. It takes a man and woman to make a child, and that happens to be the ideal settingfor the nurturing of the child. Thus, encouraging norms of permanence and exclusivity in heterosexual relationships, the place where babies are made, and promoting that association above other adult relationships is good policy in terms of the rights and well-being of children.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2015/04/27/supreme-court-same-sex-parenthood-column/26452519/