"Same-sex couples from states where gay marriage is banned cannot legally marry in Massachusetts, the state's highest court said Thursday in a ruling that left the status of many unions in legal limbo.

…According to the Registry of Vital Records and Statistics, 7,341 gay couples tied the knot in Massachusetts between the first marriages in May 2004 and December 2005. The state does not track how many out of state couples were given licenses in Massachusetts.”

"Activists are deployed across the country challenging traditional marriage, and it is more than likely that some additional judges will compound the Massachusetts mistake. This increased judicial approval of same-sex marriage will metastasize into the larger culture. Indeed, an insidious, but less recognized, consequence will be a push to demonize--and then punish--faith communities that refuse to bless homosexual unions.

While it may be inconceivable for many to imagine America treating churches that oppose gay marriage the same as racists who opposed interracial marriage in the 1960s, just consider the fate of the Boy Scouts. The Scouts have paid dearly for asserting their 1st Amendment right not to be forced to accept gay scoutmasters. In retaliation, the Scouts have been denied access to public parks and boat slips, charitable donation campaigns and other government benefits. The endgame of gay activists is to strip the Boy Scouts (and by extension, any other organization that morally opposes gay marriage) of its tax-exempt status under both federal and state law.

Heroin and Homosexuality 

Homosexual activists have largely persuaded the courts and the mainstream media that their sexual practices are quite innocuous and therefore pose no threat to society.  But the authors of a new study recently published in Psychological Reports reach a very different conclusion, uncovering disturbing evidence that homosexuality entails serious malign consequences, at least as serious as prostitution or illegal drug use.

Parsing national survey data collected in 1996 by the National Centers for Disease Control, the authors of the new study adduce strong evidence that in the "disturbances of public health and social order" for which they were responsible, "those who engaged in homosexuality were similar to those who used illegal drugs, participated in prostitution, or regularly smoked."  In other words, the researchers limned "similar patterns" for these groups (homosexuals, prostitutes, illegal drug users, and regular smokers) in "criminality, dangerousness, use of illegal substances, problems with substance abuse, mental health, and health costs." 

More specifically, just as criminality, drunk driving, poor psychological well-being, and reliance upon health care or addiction treatments were more common among prostitutes, drug users, and heavy smokers than among abstinent peers, even so all of these threats to public order and solvency showed up much more among homosexuals than among heterosexuals.  More specifically, homosexuals were significantly more likely than heterosexuals to have been booked for a crime (p<0.01), more likely to have driven under the influence of alcohol or drugs during the previous year (p<0.05), more likely to report a mental health problem (p<0.05), more likely to have visited the emergency room for an illness or accident during the previous year (p<0.10), and more likely to have received treatment or counseling for drugs or alcohol during the previous year (p<0.05).

The researchers noted some difficulty in statistically comparing the disturbances of public health and social order found among homosexuals with those found among prostitutes, drug users, and heavy smokers because homosexuals often showed up in the comparison groups.  Compared with heterosexuals, homosexuals were "more apt to divert themselves with illegal drugs, more apt to have ever smoked daily, and more apt to have been involved in prostitution." 

The authors of the new study acknowledge that "those championing homosexual rights" have asserted that "there are no real differences between those who indulge [in homosexual activity] and those who do not."  But after studying the available data, the researchers conclude that these activists have been "denied empirical support" by the respondents to the national behavioral surveys.  In contrast, in these surveys "traditionalist assertions about the personal and social harms associated with homosexual activity received support."