M.V. Lee Badgett, Director of CPPA and author of When Gay People Get Married: What Happens When Societies Legalize Same-Sex Marriage, discussed the effects of same-sex marriage in The Netherlands in an August 18 radio conversation on the Takeaway. Much of Badgett’s work is now being cited as US states like California examine the legality of bans on same-sex marriage.
In 2001, the Netherlands was the first country to legalize gay marriage. Badgett spent time in the Netherlands in the years after that legalization documenting the impact of same-sex marriage on Dutch society. Of interest, she found no evidence that legalizing same-sex marriage in the Netherlands harmed the institution of marriage or changed heterosexuals’ opinions about marriage. It did, however, change how gay people saw their role in society. An complete online podcast of Badgett’s discussion is available at the Takeaway’s website.
The Takeaway is a national morning news program produced in partnership with The New York Times, the BBC World Service, WNYC, Public Radio International and WGBH Boston.