A Cross-Cultural Perspective on Gay Marriage

During the Supreme Court’s recent hearings on same-sex marriage cases, some justices expressed concern that because same-sex marriage is so new, we don’t yet know its long-term impact on families and society. But in an op-ed in The Hartford Courant, Mariah Schug challenges these assertions, pointing out that the justices failed to look outside the U.S. Citing her own research and that of other academics, Schug points to examples in countries around the world, which demonstrate that gay marriage has not led to a devaluation of the institution of marriage, nor has it harmed children raised by same-sex couples.

Schug is a visiting assistant professor of psychology.