This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Last week we were tracking how Utah had apparently dropped on the national crazy meter, what with Idaho lawmakers fearing the imposition of Sharia law and some Tennessee legislators wanting to make the Bible the official state book. (The former is still hanging fire. The latter has been put to sleep by other, wiser officials.)
This morning's Washington Post brings news that might push Utah a couple of wacky notches higher.
— Utah's former lawyer claims same-sex marriage is deadly — Dana Milbank | The Washington Post
Or it might not.
The lawyer that columnist Dana Milbank is ridiculing doesn't work for the state of Utah any more. Gene Schaerr was the lead outside counsel brought in, at some expense, when Utah was trying to get its ban on same-sex marriage, voided by a district court judge late in 2013, back on the books. Schaerr lost before the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals and, while the Supreme Court will be addressing the issue of marriage equality next week, it is not hearing Utah's appeal.
Schaerr is still on the case, though. He is the attorney of record for a group called "100 Scholars of Marriage." And his — their — argument, as outlined in an amicus brief filed with the Supremes, is that state recognition of same-sex marriage will so undermine the importance of heterosexual unions that they will become less common. And that will mean more pregnant single women, abandoned by men who think marriage and fatherhood no longer matter because gay folks are getting hitched. And that will mean a lot more children born into poverty. And a whole lot more abortions. Like 900,000 more over 30 years.
Schaerr's brief lists his address as Washington, D.C., and boasts no ties to the state of Utah. Though quite a few of his 100 scholars are or were affiliated with Brigham Young University, BYU-Idaho, University of Utah Medical School, Utah Valley University, Utah State and Southern Utah University.
Milbank buys none of it, of course, and thoughtfully provides some stats that show that marriage rates are down across the board, not just in states that have had marriage equality for several years, as the 100 argue, but also in states such as Texas and, yes, Utah, where the same-sex marriage trend has been resisted.
So. Does this move Utah up on the Crazy Meter? Or Not?
We may need to take this to the Supreme Court.
Besides, if you really are worried about people not getting married, having children outside of marriage or having abortions, you could do some things to address it. You could raise the minimum wage and fully implement the Affordable Care Act. The Supreme Court won't order any of that, of course. But Congress could. If it won't, then crocodile tears about how gay weddings are ruining everything are just that much more disgusting.
— The 'decline' of marriage isn't a problem — Matthew Yglesias | Vox
Elseweb:
— States Can't Get Elite Attorneys to Defend Their Gay Marriage Bans? Good! — David S. Cohen and Leonore Carpenter | Slate
— 'They're ruining our children': Alabama Supreme Court justice compares gay marriage to segregation — Joanna Rothkopf | Salon
— The case against gay marriage: Let my people vote — The Economist
— Gender, the gay marriage fight's missing piece — Andrew Koppelman and Ilya Somin | USA Today
— George Pyle