Maggie Gallagher of the National
Organization for Marriage (NOM) has denied there is a correlation
between opposition to gay marriage and suicide rates among gay teens.
Under Gallagher's leadership, NOM
backed passage of Proposition 8, which put an end to the weddings of
gay and lesbian couples taking place in California after the state
Supreme Court legalized the institution. A
federal appeals court last week declared Prop 8 unconstitutional.
Appearing on RT's The Big Picture,
Gallagher disagreed with host Thom Hartmann's opinion that opposition
to gay marriage played a role in the suicide rates of gay teens.
“I actually took the trouble to look
at whether gay marriage reduces gay teen suicide rates and I don't
think that's going to turn out to be true,” Gallagher said.
“I don't think it's a matter of gay
marriage. I think it's a matter of acceptance,” Hartmann observed.
“I'm talking about marriage. I'm not
fighting to make gay teens not feel accepted. I think that there are
many relationships that are valuable and loving. They're not all
marriages ...”
“But when bi-racial couples couldn't
get married, bi-racial people dating certainly didn't feel equal,”
Hartmann interrupted.
Gallagher then asked Hartmann whether
he believes that gay marriage foes are responsible for gay teen
suicide.
“Yes, I do,” Hartmann confidently
answered.
“See, I think that that's not true,”
Gallagher responded. (The video is embedded in the right panel of
this page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)
(Related: NOM's
Maggie Gallagher calls Prop 8 ruling “dishonest.”)