Thomas Peters, communications director
for the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), abruptly ended a
radio interview when asked to acknowledge that gay couples are
raising children.
Peters appeared on KABC's McIntyre
in the Morning radio show last Wednesday, the day the Supreme
Court handed down two rulings related to gay marriage.
He blasted the rulings, suggesting that
they hurt children.
“Marriage is not just about what
adults want,” Peters said. “Marriage has a huge influence on how
children are raised and what kind of outcomes they see. And the most
comprehensive social science that we have shows that children who are
raised where the biological parents marry do best in life. So, you
know, marriage isn't just about what you're doing in your own home.
...”
“Hang on a minute, let me jump in
here,” McIntyre interrupted. “There are lots and lots of
marriages that aren't about kids. … So it's not just about kids.”
“While it's true that not every
couple may be able to have children, it is true that every child has
a mother and a father. And what same-sex marriage does, it says that
children have no right that. That children are just as well raised
by two men or two women. And we don't believe that.”
“But Thomas, didn't that ship sail?”
McIntyre said. “Because we've had gay adoption for a very long
time. So we've had gay and lesbian couples adopting children or
having children through surrogates for years. And now they want to
codify those unions in marriage and for some reason we want to deny
them that. If we're talking about raising children in gay
relationships, we've been doing that for years.”
Unhappy with the direction that the
conversation was headed, Peters
gave his final thoughts and hung up.
“Well, first of all, I was led to
believe this was a conversation about what the court did today, and I
have other interviews waiting. I'm happy to have a debate about
marriage … but I simply see adoption as a separate issue. What
we've done with adoption is not a reason to redefine marriage. And
if you've actually looked at the individual states that have
redefined marriage, one of the first things that happens is they
force Catholic and Lutheran adoption agencies, that are some of the
best adoption agencies in the state, to shutter their doors. So, you
know, we can talk about adoption until the cows come home, but right
now I'm fighting very hard for the true definition of marriage at the
Supreme Court and across the country and thank you very much for
having me on your show.”