About 100,000 marriages have been saved from divorce. We have also cut cohabitation rates by a third.

Our passionate commitment to traditional marriage is why we oppose same-sex marriage. Here are 8 reasons:

1. Children need both a mother and father Our concern is primarily about the kids, the innocent ones who need a mother and father - but are deprived of one gender in same-sex unions. The tender love of a mother is irreplaceable. It cannot be offered by two gays. Similarly, a father's love is essential for healthy growth. According to a Heritage Foundation study, children from fatherless homes are:

* 5 times more likely to commit suicide
* 7 times more apt to become teen mothers or to drop out of school
* 15 times more likely to end up in prison as a teenager
* 33 times more apt to be seriously abused, requiring medical attention
* 73 times more likely to be killed It is cruel in the extreme to deny children access to their mother or father.

2. Traditional marriage is exclusive. Gay unions are not.

According to the National Marriage Project, 86% husbands and 90% of wives have never cheated. While gay promiscuity decreased after AIDS became known, a Canada study reports gays had 7 partners in the last six months. Is that a healthy atmosphere to bring up kids? NO.

3. Few gays want to marry. Massachusetts was the first state to adopt same-sex unions in 2004. After five years, there were only 5,000 "gay marriages" in the state, 40% of which were from out of state. If 4% of the state's 3.3 million males are gay, there are 132,000 gay men in the state. Even if all 10,000 who married were from Massachusetts, only 7.5% of gays have married.

More than 90% of gays do not want to marry. Why consider legislation to change the historic definition of marriage as a union of one man and one woman, when less than one-tenth of 4% of the gay population will marry?

4. Same-sex marriage will change the character of marriage. Same-sex partners began to be introduced to kindergartners in Massachusetts in 2003. Two families tried to remove their children from the classes but could not. They sued and lost with a federal judge saying the school system had a duty to normalize homosexual relationships to children. Montgomery County's Sex Ed curriculum introduces same sex attractions to children, without telling them of the high rate of HIV/AIDS and other STDs contracted by men having sex with men.

5. Childhood Sexual Abuse: 20% A fifth of gays abuse young children, mostly before age 11. More than half of these kids will grow up to abuse their partners, (Anthony Falzarano testified that 75% of homosexual were molested as youth.)

6. The Federal Defense of Marriage Act opposes gay marriage Defense of Marriage Act, passed overwhelmingly by Congress does not recognize same-sex marriage. Congress explained, "At bottom, civil society has an interest in maintaining and protecting the institution of heterosexual marriage because it has a deep and abiding interest in encouraging responsible procreation and child-rearing. Simply put, government has an interest in marriage because it has an interest in children."

7. If Legislature approves Same-Sex Marriage, a Referendum will overturn. If you pass same-sex marriage, it will likely trigger a referendum in which Marylanders will veto gay marriage. In all 31 states where there has been a vote, the public has always supported traditional marriage, not same-sex unions.

8. Consider the Maine precedent. Maine's Legislature approved same-sex marriage, but voters overturned the measure. And in 2010, voters tossed out two dozen incumbents, and the Legislature and Governor went from Democratic to Republican. Why take that risk?

Michael J. McManus is a syndicated columnist writing on issues of "Ethics & Religion". He is President & Co-Chair of Marriage Savers. He and his wife Harriet reside at 9311 Harrington Dr. Potomac, MD 20854 www.marriagesavers.org 301-469-5873