Press Release, Issued on
behalf of 'Gay Marriage No Thanks
Parental campaign group:
"Wellbeing of children being ignored in same-sex
marriage debate"
·
Same-sex marriage is
'adult-focused and gender-free'
·
Children have 'human right to
be nurtured by both birth parents'
·
Campaign launch coincides
with start of House of Lords Committee Stage of Same Sex
Marriage Bill
An informal
group of professionals and parents today (17 JUN) launches a
new campaign to put the wellbeing of children at the centre
of the same-sex marriage debate.
The move
comes as the Coalition's controversial Marriage (Same-Sex
Couples) Bill begins its Committee Stage in the House of
Lords today.
The 'Gay
Marriage No Thanks' group brings together legal,
educational, medical and sociological experts. It is driven
by concerns that the impact on children has been overlooked
in a debate that has concentrated instead on claims of
equality and religious freedom.
In an advert
aimed at Peers in today's Times newspaper the group presents
Ten Good Reasons why the House of Lords should say No to the
Bill. The majority of them focus on the impact that the
proposed changes will have on children and young
people.
The group has
today also launched a dedicated website
(http://www.gaymarriagenothanks.com/) that is intended
progressively to provide easy access to the wealth of
evidence on the subject - for Peers, civil servants, media,
parents and others. It operates under the tagline 'because
children matter'.
Alan Craig, a
spokesman for the group, said:
“Talk of the rights
of adults has dominated debate about the issue, whether
those are homosexual rights or religious rights. But what
about the rights of children? And what does the evidence say
about the impact of these plans?
“We want to take
some of the emotion out of the debate and help people engage
with the actual evidence that shows how disruptive and
damaging these changes will be for children and young
people. After all, it is the next generation who will be
most affected by these proposals.
Luca Volonte,
Chair of the largest political grouping at the Council of
Europe's Parliamentary Assembly, welcomed today's launch
saying:
“I very much
welcome the launch of this new resource and campaign in the
UK. Across Europe ordinary citizens are opposing same-sex
marriage for the sake of their children. I am glad that the
English are now engaged in this battle to save marriage as
the best place for procreation and the nurture of the next
generation."
Earlier this year,
Californian Professor Robert Oscar Lopez, sparked debate
when he told legislators in the
US:
"Couples deserve to
have love recognized, but I know as a child raised by my
lesbian mother and her partner that there is something
missing when a child is raised by two same-sex
parents.
“… We've
heard a lot from same-sex marriage activists who feel
they’ve earned property rights to children but we
haven’t heard enough from children’s rights
advocates in a full debate."
ENDS.
For
information / interview:
Alan Craig:
07939 547 198
Chris Sugden:
07808 297 043
Hello@gaymarriagenothanks.com
Notes for
Editors:
The campaign
group’s new website is available at: http://www.gaymarriagenothanks.com/
Ten
Good Reasons published in The Times today, Monday
17th, page 34 (see website for references to
appropriate research and evidence):
Ten good
reasons why the House of Lords should say No to the same-sex
marriage Bill:
(i) Intact
biological families provide the gold standard for the
wellbeing of children.
(ii) Children
have a human right to be nurtured by both their biological
parents.
(iii) Gay
parenting by definition denies the child from having one or
both biological parents.
(iv) Popular
support for the Bill is based on the unfounded theory that
people are 'born gay'.
(v) All
school children will be taught that as adults they can have
marriage relationships with either men or
women.
(vi)
Adolescents commonly experience temporary same-sex
attraction: this does not mean they are
gay.
(vii) There
is no evidence that SSM strengthens marriage. In Spain
marriage rates fell precipitously.
(viii) Behind
this Bill is a militant move to deny gender
difference.
(ix)
‘Equal love’ leads to unequal
marriage.
(x) Civil
partnerships already provide all the legal and financial
benefits of marriage for gay people.
Copyright © 2013
'Gay Marriage No Thanks', All rights reserved.
Our email
address is:
David
Skinner
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