This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Utah's legal argument that children are inevitably better off being raised in a traditional heterosexual family ("State makes it all about kids in brief against same-sex marriage," Tribune, Feb. 5) is patently ridiculous both statistically and empirically.
First, for a child to be secure in a married household, the marriage must be stable; yet, Utah has had a higher divorce rate than the national average for a number of years.
Second, the traditional marriage of husband and wife must provide a safe environment; but, the Utah Division of Child Services reports housing over 1,500 victims of child abuse every year from 2006 to 2011, most of whom were from traditional heterosexual families.
But, even without all the statistical evidence, we know from experiences of abuse in our own families, as well as all those we hear and read about, that the traditional "mom and pop" family is hardly a bastion of safety for children.
Given this evidence, I feel it's safe to say that children raised by same-sex parents would be just as secure as those with heterosexual parents.
Obviously, this is just one more specious legal effort to postpone the inevitablility of same-sex marriage in Utah.
Keller Higbee
Salt Lake City