UIC School of Law UIC Law Open Access Repository UIC Law Open Access Faculty Scholarship 2013 Save Our Children: Overcoming the Narrative That Gays and Lesbians Are Harmful to Children, 21 Duke J. Gender L. & Pol'y 125 (2013) Anthony Niedwiecki John Marshall Law School,
[email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.law.uic.edu/facpubs Part of the Family Law Commons, Juvenile Law Commons, Law and Gender Commons, Legal History Commons, and the Sexuality and the Law Commons Recommended Citation Anthony Niedwiecki, Save Our Children: Overcoming the Narrative That Gays and Lesbians Are Harmful to Children, 21 Duke J. Gender L. & Pol'y 125 (2013) https://repository.law.uic.edu/facpubs/473 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by UIC Law Open Access Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in UIC Law Open Access Faculty Scholarship by an authorized administrator of UIC Law Open Access Repository. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Save Our Children: Overcoming the Narrative that Gays and Lesbians are Harmful to Children ANTHONY NIEDWIECKI* The United States has seen a dramatic shift in support for marriage equality for same-sex couples over the past decade, culminating in a recent gay rights victory in the U.S. Supreme Court.' Also in the past year, several states have approved marriage rights for same-sex couples through the legislative or initiative process, reflecting the increasing cultural and political acceptance of marriage between same-sex partners. Polls support this cultural shift in the United States, with a 16% jump in approval for same-sex marriage since 2001 and a 24% jump since 1996.2 This reflects a significant change in public opinion over a very short period of time and is in stark contrast to the large number of states that have passed and continue to enforce constitutional amendments banning marriage rights for same-sex couples.