Same-sex marriage rights got an endorsement Monday from four Vermont professional organizations who cited research findings that “children of lesbian and gay parents are as likely as those of heterosexual parents to flourish.”

They also said gay and lesbian parents are as likely as their heterosexual counterparts to provide healthy environments for children and that “there is no credible scientific evidence” relating parenting effectiveness to sexual orientation.

Their statement, which comes as the Vermont legislature prepares to consider same-sex marriage legislation, was released at a news conference called by the Vermont Psychological Association, the Vermont Psychiatric Association, the Vermont Association of Mental Health Counselors and the Vermont chapter of the National Association of Social Workers.

Speaking on the organizations’ behalf, Jackie Weinstock, an associate professor in the department of integrated professional studies at the University of Vermont, said the groups wanted to “set the record straight” by rebutting contentions by gay-marriage opponents that children raised by single-sex parents fare less well than their counterparts in heterosexual families.

“No study has shown that outcomes for children of single-sex families are any less positive than outcomes for children in heterosexual families,” Weinstock said. She said contrary findings sometimes cited by opponents apply in part to children of divorced parents, not exclusively to children of single-sex parents. She acknowledged that national studies of children in same-sex parents have been limited by small research samples. See Professional groups back gay marriage BurlingtonFreePress.com

BENNINGTON — Legislative leaders said Thursday that they will move quickly to pass gay marriage legislation, beginning hearings in the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 16 — the day the Legislature reconvenes following the Town Meeting break.

The announcement came at a Statehouse press conference hosted by Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin, D-Windham, and House Speaker Shap Smith, D-Morristown, as they outlined an aggressive agenda for the remainder of the legislative session.

Shumlin, who served as Senate president in 2000, when Vermont became the first state to pass civil union legislation, said Thursday he was proud of the state at the time for taking such a momentous step. But his “pride has given way to uneasiness,” he said, as other states have since bypassed Vermont and have allowed gay marriage.

“Vermont is no longer alone, and we’re no longer leading. Here in Vermont, people’s fears in connection with the civil union law have proven unfounded,” he said. “Nobody was harmed, some families enjoy a little more security, and our state is a better place for having taken that step.”

 See Hearings to start March 16 on gay marriage

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The nation’s economic crisis is now playing a role in the debate over same-sex marriage.

Supporters of same-sex marriage point to its economic benefits, both for those getting married and for states that sanction it. Opponents, however, say same-sex nuptials will actually “devalue” the institution and cost society more in the long run.

In Minnesota, the issue has even split two openly gay lawmakers, and for the purposes of this story, the two men agreed to sit down together for a joint interview.

Minnesota state Sen. Scott Dibble is one of those lawmakers. Dibble, a Democrat, is proposing one of two marriage-equality bills in the state Senate and says now is as good a time as any to propose gay marriage legislation because there is also an economic aspect to the debate. Legally married couples, he says, are generally in better financial shape overall.

“We’re in a time of economic crisis, and it’s difficult for everyone,” Dibble says, “more difficult for those families that don’t have access to those basic provisions for economic security.”

He says examples include the joint ownership of property; joint credit; the ability to share health-care benefits with a partner; and inheritance rights.

“People are beginning to understand that the rights and benefits and responsibilities and economic relationships that couples have with each other as a result of marriage or marriage-type laws are really basic to our ability to be able to provide for each other,” he adds.

“It’s really coming to light in context of this economic difficulty that we’re in the midst of.”

See Economy enters same-sex marriage debate

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