Nearly 14,000 More Kids Now in States Where Parents Can Marry

Marriage equality is continuing to sweep through the South, and the latest spate of federal rulings mean that nearly 14,000 more children of same-sex parents now live in states where their parents can marry.

Let’s do a little chart again, showing the states where federal courts have ruled for marriage equality in November:

(Thanks to UCLA’s Williams Institute for the data.)

Some of the above states are not yet allowing same-sex couples to marry, since the decisions were stayed pending appeal — but I am hopeful that the tide has turned and when the legal process has played itself out, same-sex couples will be able to marry across the country. Carlton Reeves, the U.S. District Court judge who ruled in the Mississippi case, for example, made a point of noting that most federal courts were in agreement: “This court joins the vast majority of federal courts to conclude that same-sex couples and the children they raise are equal before the law.” (The Sixth Circuit remains the big exception.)

Let’s look at some of the other notable things Reeves said related to the impact of children on his decision:

Gay and lesbian couples can form stable family units just as well as opposite-sex couples. Gay and lesbian couples can also love and care for children just as well as opposite-sex couples. It makes no sense to exclude them from an institution that promotes stable families and strengthens children. If the purpose of State-recognized marriage is to protect families and children, then the State should expand marriage rights to gay and lesbian couples, not bar them from it….

Given the number of children in our State — or any state — awaiting placement in a stable family environment, it is irresponsible to deny those children the shelter and enrichment that same-sex families can provide. There is no link between the State’s legitimate interest in promoting strong families and healthy children, and its decision to prohibit same-sex marriage….

And the effect of the bill [that bans same-sex couples from marriage] was (and is) to label same-sex couples as different and lesser, demeaning their sexuality and humiliating their children. The unrebutted testimony of the plaintiffs shows the deleterious effects of the ban on them and their children. They range from taxation to health care to the stigma imposed on their children….

Of particular salience is the reality that the plaintiffs’ children have a strong interest in their parents being married….

Very many congratulations to those children and those of other same-sex couples in the above states who wish to marry!