Based on Meyer, Proposition eight will increase the chance of adverse mental and bodily health outcomes for gays and lesbians. To Peplau, the need of similar-intercourse couples to marry illustrates the well being of the institution of marriage and never, as Blankenhorn testified, the weakening of marriage. Cott pointed to constant historic features of marriage, together with that civil law, versus religious customized, has always been supreme in regulating and defining marriage within the United States, Tr 195:9-15, and that one’s capability to consent to marriage is a fundamental civil proper, Tr 202:2-5. Blankenhorn recognized three guidelines of marriage (discussed further within the credibility determinations, section I under), which he testified have been constant across cultures and times: (1) the rule of opposites (the “man/woman” rule); (2) the rule of two; and (3) the rule of sex. As explained in the credibility determinations, sections I beneath, and the findings of truth, section II under, the testimony exhibits that California has no interest in differentiating between same-intercourse and reverse-intercourse unions. Psychologist Michael Lamb testified that every one available proof shows that children raised by gay or lesbian parents are just as prone to be properly-adjusted as youngsters raised by heterosexual mother and father and that the gender of a guardian is immaterial to whether an grownup is an efficient father or mother.

Other researchers argue that an unbalanced sex ratio should not be automatically held as proof of prenatal intercourse choice; Michel Garenne stories that many African nations have, over decades, had birth intercourse ratios under 1.00: that is, extra girls are born than boys. The testimony of a number of witnesses disclosed that a major function of Proposition eight was to ensure that California confer a coverage choice for reverse-intercourse couples over same-intercourse couples based mostly on a perception that same-intercourse pairings are immoral and should not be encouraged in California. American ideals have been California to acknowledge same-sex marriage, Blankenhorn testified that the state shouldn’t acknowledge similar-intercourse marriage. Blankenhorn identified modifications that to him signify the deinstitutionalization of marriage, together with a rise in births exterior of marriage and an growing divorce rate. Accurate characterization of aging trajectories alongside the cognitive dimension relies on the accurate evaluation of decline in cognitive talents, together with measures of working memory, processing pace, and executive function2, where age-related adjustments in processing velocity are believed to account for changes in several cognitive domains3. For example his opinion that home partnerships are seen by society as completely different from marriage, Herek pointed to a letter despatched by the California Secretary of State to registered domestic companions in 2004 informing them of upcoming changes to the law and suggesting dissolution of their partnership to keep away from any undesirable monetary results.

Within the nineteen nineties Governor of California Pete Wilson stated that there was a trend of males in their mid-to-late 20s having intercourse with and impregnating teenage ladies around 14 years of age and that the statutory rape laws needed to be enforced to prevent this. Lamb testified that the relevant comparability is between families headed by similar-sex couples and households headed by reverse intercourse couples and that research comparing these two family types present conclusively that having mother and father of various genders is irrelevant to youngster outcomes. Tr 2769:14-24 (referring to DIX0026 Kristin Anderson Moore, Susan M Jekielek, and Carol Emig, Marriage from a Child’s Perspective: How Does Family Structure Affect Children, and What Can We Do about It, Child Trends (June 2002)); Tr 2771:1-13 (referring to DIX0124 Sara McLanahan and Gary Sandefur, Growing Up with a Single Parent: What Hurts, What Helps (Harvard 1994)). As defined within the credibility determinations, part I under, none of the studies Blankenhorn relied on isolates the genetic relationship between a mother or father and a baby as a variable to be examined. When proponents challenged Lamb with studies purporting to show that married mother and father provide the ideal child-rearing setting, Lamb countered that studies on youngster-rearing usually compare married reverse-sex mother and father to single mother and father or step-families and have no bearing on families headed by similar-sex couples.

Blankenhorn emphasised the importance of biological mother and father, relying on studies evaluating kids raised by married, biological dad and mom with children raised by single mother and father, unmarried mothers, step families and cohabiting parents. Both Cott and Blankenhorn testified that California stands to profit if it were to resume issuing marriage licenses to similar-intercourse couples. Several specialists testified that the State of California and California’s gay and lesbian inhabitants endure as a result of home partnerships should not equivalent to marriage. The older scenario is one where a person is recruited from a village to maneuver to a bigger city, where they’re compelled into the sex business. Psychologist Gregory Herek defined sexual orientation as “an enduring sexual, romantic, or intensely affectional attraction to men, to ladies, or to both men and women. It is also used to confer with an id or a way of self that relies on one’s enduring patterns of attraction. And it is also generally used to explain an enduring pattern of behavior.” Tr 2025:5-11. Herek explained that homosexuality is a standard expression of human sexuality; the vast majority of gays and lesbians have little or no alternative in their sexual orientation; and therapeutic efforts to vary an individual’s sexual orientation have not been proven to be effective and as an alternative pose a risk of hurt to the person.