Whether
gay
couples
should
be
allowed
to
legally
marry
was
scheduled
to
be
a
topic
of
debate
this
week
at
a
conference
co-hosted
and
funded
by
a
branch
of
the
Georgia
Supreme
Court.
Billed
as
the
first
of
its
kind,
the
summit,
dubbed
“For
Children’s
Sake:
Get
Married,
Stay
Married,”
was
scheduled
for
Nov.
19-20
and
concluded
after
Southern
Voice
press
time.
The
conference
was
co-hosted
by
the
Georgia
Supreme
Court
Commission
on
Children,
Marriage
&
Family
Law
and
the
Institute
for
American
Values,
a
private,
non-profit
think
tank
dedicated
to
“strengthening
families
and
civil
society
in
the
U.S.
and
the
world.”
David
Blankenhorn,
the
institute’s
executive
director,
has
publicly
spoken
out
against
same-sex
marriage.
At
press
time,
more
than
two-dozen
lawyers
and
scholars
were
scheduled
to
discuss
a
variety
of
topics
related
to
the
promotion
of
marriage
and
the
impact
of
current
and
proposed
marital
law.
One
of
the
reasons
for
the
Supreme
Court
commission
to
discuss
marriage
is
that
divorce
has
a
tremendous
impact
on
Georgia’s
courts
and
on
Georgia’s
families,
according
to
an
introduction
to
the
summit.
“Each
year,
more
than
65
percent
of
Georgia’s
civil
court
dockets
are
matters
pertaining
to
children
and
families.
These
cases
outnumber
not
only
all
other
civil
cases,
but
also
all
felony
and
misdemeanor
cases
combined,”
the
introduction
states.
The
state
Supreme
Court’s
commission
spent
approximately
$45,000
of
taxpayer
money
on
the
conference,
but
hoped
to
return
much
of
the
money
back
to
the
state
through
fees
from
those
attending,
said
Supreme
Court
spokesperson
Jane
Hansen.
Although
the
summit
addressed
political
and
religious
issues,
Hansen
said
the
conference
did
not
violate
the
court’s
pledge
of
neutrality.
“This
not
the
court,
it
is
a
court
commission,
and
the
commission
is
having
a
debate
on
the
different
kinds
of
laws,”
she
said.
Hansen
noted
the
summit
was
designed
to
educate
the
court
and
the
attorneys
who
appear
before
it
on
family
issues.
“Those
are
legal
issues
that
come
before
the
court
all
the
time,
so
it’s
a
proper
discussion
to
have,”
Hansen
said.
‘RIGHT
WAY’
FOR
CONVERSATION
Because
the
summit
was
co-organized
by
the
Institute
for
American
Values,
at
least
six
of
the
29
the
speakers
have
connections
to
that
organization.
One
of
the
summit’s
speakers
is
Blankenhorn,
president
and
executive
director
of
the
Institute
for
American
Values,
a
vocal
opponent
of
same-sex
marriage.
Two
more
speakers
are
members
of
the
Georgia
Family
Council,
which
has
worked
with
Tony
Perkins
and
the
Family
Research
Council,
which
also
opposes
gay
marriage.
Blankenhorn
wrote
a
Sept.
19
opinion
piece
for
the
L.A.
Times
titled
“Protecting
marriage
to
protect
children”
to
voice
his
support
of
Proposition
8
to
ban
gay
marriage
in
California.
“I’m
a
liberal
Democrat.
And
I
do
not
favor
same-sex
marriage,”
he
wrote.
Adding
that
children
are
best
served
by
having
a
father
and
mother,
Blankenhorn
said
same-sex
marriage
is
actually
a
disservice
to
children
of
those
families.
“Every
child
being
raised
by
gay
or
lesbian
couples
will
be
denied
his
birthright
to
both
parents
who
made
him.
Every
single
one.
Moreover,
losing
that
right
will
not
be
a
consequence
of
something
that
at
least
most
of
us
view
as
tragic,
such
as
a
marriage
that
didn’t
last,
or
an
unexpected
pregnancy
where
the
father-to-be
has
no
intention
of
sticking
around,”
he
wrote.
“On
the
contrary,
in
the
case
of
same-sex
marriage
and
the
children
of
those
unions,
it
will
be
explained
to
everyone,
including
the
children,
that
something
wonderful
has
happened!”
Blankenhorn
told
Southern
Voice
despite
his
own
stated
feelings
on
marriage,
and
the
writings
of
several
of
the
speakers
and
organizations
present,
the
summit
itself
would
be
unbiased.
“There
is
nothing
token
or
manipulative
about
this,”
he
said.
“This
is
the
right
way
to
be
having
this
conversation.”
Blankenhorn
said
the
main
time
gay
marriage
was
to
be
addressed
during
the
summit
would
be
a
Wednesday
evening
keynote
conversation
between
him
and
Jonathan
Rauch,
an
openly
gay
journalist
who
has
written
extensively
on
marriage
equality.
“The
way
to
think
of
it
is,
you
get
blasted
on
it
either
way
you
go,”
Blankenhorn
said
of
addressing
marriage
law
and
gay
marriage.
“If
we
had
nothing
on
it
you
would
be
blasting
away
on
that.
…
If
we
don’t
address
it
at
all,
people
would
say
how
that
you
are
ignoring
this
issue.
So
what
we
decided
to
do
is
go
out
and
get
the
most
prominent
person
we
could
find
who
supports
gay
marriage,
which
is
Jonathan
Rauch,
and
someone
who
doesn’t,
which
is
me,
and
have
a
conversation.”
Although
Rauch
is
the
only
openly
gay
speaker,
and
one
of
the
few
...
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