Defense witness says gay marriage would help children - but still don't allow it

[WillParkinson]

Prop 8 trial: Defense witness says gay marriage would help children

(San Francisco) Allowing same-sex couples to get married would improve the well-being of children raised by gay parents but should not be pursued as social policy because it would further weaken marriage as an institution, the head of a private think tank testified during a federal trial challenging California’s gay marriage ban.

David Blankenhorn, president of the New York-based Institute for American Values, took the stand Tuesday as the second and final expert witness for the ban’s sponsors. Their lawyers are trying to prove that the voter-approved initiative, known as Proposition 8, serves a legitimate public purpose.

Blankenhorn faced an exhaustive and frequently biting cross-examination from David Boies, a lead lawyer for two same-sex couples suing to overturn the 2008 ballot measure as a violation of their constitutional rights. Boies tried to discredit Blankenhorn by getting him to acknowledge that his advanced degree is in comparative labor history and that he has not conducted any independent research on same-sex marriage.

http://www.365gay.com/news/prop-8-trial-defense-witness-says-gay-marriage-would-help-children/

[Smashcut]

1. Better headline: Unqualified Bigoted Hack Tells Half Truths, Gets Dressed Down