Cambridge Professor provides key evidence in overhaul of same-sex marriage ban

Professor Michael Lamb, from the University’s Department of Social Psychology, provided information that played a crucial role in the decision of a Federal Judge to overturn “Proposition 8” last week.

The state measure was passed by voters in 2008 and stipulated that same-sex marriage would not be recognised by the state, although it did accept the idea of same-sex civil unions.

Supporters of the ban regard it as a protection measure, excluding same-sex couples from marriage and thereby promoting procreation and the raising of children within heterosexual unions alone.

In his ruling, however, US District Judge Vaughn Walker found that Proposition 8 unconstitutionally discriminated against same-sex couples who sought to wed.

Professor Lamb testified in Court last January, when he argued that an array of research, including many studies conducted by his Cambridge colleague, Professor Susan Golombok, had shown that gender is immaterial to good parenting.

Instead, he said, research suggests that the children of same-sex parents will positively benefit if their parents marry, and that they will become as well-adjusted to family life as those with heterosexual parents. Countering other evidence presented in Court, he therefore contended that a biological link between parents and child is not essential to ensure that children are well-adjusted.

The evidence provided an empirical basis for the ruling that followed, in which Judge Walker said that “Proposition 8 fails to advance any rational basis in singling out gay men and lesbians for denial of a marriage licence.”

He added: “Indeed, the evidence shows Proposition 8 does nothing more than enshrine in the California constitution the notion that opposite sex couples are superior to same-sex couples. Because California has no interest in discriminating against gay men and lesbians, and because Proposition 8 prevents California from fulfilling its constitutional obligation to provide marriages on an equal basis, the court concludes that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional.”

Professor Lamb is Professor of Psychology and Head of the Department of Social and Development Psychology at the University of Cambridge. He specialises in the study of social and emotional development in infancy and early childhood and has published around 500 articles on various aspects of child development. For more information about his work, please visit: https://www.psychol.cam.ac.uk/directory/mel37@cam.ac.uk