Family and Marriage News
Coverage of family life, marriage, parenting, and cultural issues shaping households across America, with clear reporting and thoughtful analysis.
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opinion
We Hear You: Religious Liberty, Same-Sex Marriage, and Wedding Cakes
Editor's note: We got a big reaction with our report on the appeals court date for the husband-and-wife Oregon bakers ordered by a state agency to pay $135,000 for declining to make a wedding cake for a lesbian couple. Here's a sampling to lead off our latest roundup of mail. —Ken McIntyre Dear Daily Signal: How can Aaron… -
news
This Federal Agency Is Targeting a Family Business. A Religious Liberty Organization Is Calling on Trump to Protect It.
A religious liberty organization is asking President Donald Trump to sign a proposed executive order that would protect the religious freedom of a family-owned business and others like it from the punitive actions of an executive agency. “The Vander Boons are at risk of having their plant shut down and their employees left jobless because… -
news
This Filmmaking Couple Doesn’t Want to Be Punished for Not Promoting Same-Sex Marriage
A Minnesota couple is suing state officials to allow their film production company to celebrate marriage as a man-woman union without being forced, against their biblical beliefs, to promote same-sex marriage. Carl and Angel Larsen, of St. Cloud, Minnesota, say they run Telescope Media Group as a way to deploy their storytelling ability and production… -
news
Conservative Lawmakers Say Current Welfare System Is ‘Anti-Family’
With a new Republican administration in tow, conservative lawmakers are renewing their call for welfare reform that incentivizes families rather than punishing them. “When we look at what we want for our society, when we look at the key ingredients that have to be contained within any thriving civilization, there are a couple of common… -
news
The Government Seized $100K From This California Family’s Bank Accounts, College Savings
James Slatic was sitting in a breakfast meeting when he heard the news. An employee who worked for him and his medical marijuana business, Med-West Distribution, called to tell him he arrived at Med-West’s facility in San Diego, California, to find “25 police cars” outside. It was Jan. 28, and on that day, an estimated… -
opinion
Within a Generation, Our National Debt Will Cost the Typical Family $12,000
When confronted in the final presidential debate with the assertion that each of their plans would increase the national debt, the candidates denied it by saying either economic growth or higher taxes would offset this increase. But deficit spending and unsustainable debt pose a significant threat to our economy. The House Budget Committee recognizes this… -
opinion
Obama’s New Death Tax Threatens Family Farms and Businesses
We all knew President Barack Obama’s lame-duck presidency would be bad, but for the millions of Americans who work at family farms and businesses, it’s about to get a lot worse. As Heritage Foundation tax expert Curtis Dubay wrote at The Daily Signal, Obama is trying to sneak in a tax hike in his twilight… -
news
Why This Graphic Designer Isn’t Talking About Her Christian Beliefs on Marriage
Lorie Smith, a graphic designer from Colorado, wants to create custom websites and designs for couples who are getting married. However, Smith, an evangelical Christian, wants to create them only for marriages between one man and one woman. Being compelled to create websites celebrating same-sex marriages, she says in a lawsuit filed Tuesday, would force… -
news
How the $12 Million Illinois Medicaid Gave to Dead People Hurt This Family
Jake Chalkey has defied doctors’ expectations. Born with a brain malformation, Jake wasn’t supposed to live past 2 years old. He suffered from life-threatening seizures, which would be his downfall, doctors said, and it took years for medical professionals to formally diagnose the young boy with a condition they didn’t even have a name for…. -
opinion
Marriage Reduces Child Poverty, but Our Welfare System Penalizes Marriage
According to a recently released study from the American Enterprise Institute, 82 percent of lower-middle-class families with young children face “marriage penalties” in the welfare system. Couples who marry would lose all or some of their welfare benefits because their combined income is often greater than each of their independent incomes. The study found that… -
news
‘Quintessential Insider Deal’: Taxpayers Finance Family Ties of 2 Failing Green Companies
Grassroots conservative activists who run a reboot of Ronald Reagan’s political action committee want to know why the government allows one failing company to buy another failing company while both get taxpayer subsidies. They also want to know why corporate executives with friends in high places have not been subjected to more scrutiny after receiving… -
news
Social Conservatives Declare Victory on Bathrooms, Marriage in GOP Platform
CLEVELAND—After fending off attempts to change the Republican Party’s official position on LGBT issues and traditional marriage, a coalition of social conservatives cautiously celebrated an early victory Monday afternoon. Before the Grand Old Party picks its presidential nominee formally, a select set of delegates on the platform committee will spend the week staking out Republican… -
opinion
Why Young Adults Both Want and Fear Marriage
When we interviewed Carly, 31, in the summer of 2010, she had been in an on-again, off-again cohabiting relationship with the father of her child for about 12 years. Never married, she called marriage a “piece of paper.” One year later, however, she had broken up with her longtime boyfriend and was engaged to a… -
news
Religious Liberty and Same-Sex Marriage Takes Center Stage in Congress
Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle are bracing for what is likely to be a contentious hearing Tuesday on Capitol Hill over legislation aimed at protecting individuals and organizations who hold traditional views about marriage and sexuality. The long-awaited hearing, called by Republicans on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, will… -
opinion
One Year After Same-Sex Marriage Decision, Dissent Not Permitted
By now, nearly one year after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, it should be clear that the aggressive and unreasonable elements of the LGBT movement cannot harmonize themselves with freedom for Christians and other conscientious objectors. With few, commendable examples, the LGBT movement’s activist class, who advocated for same-sex marriage and… -
opinion
What Liberals Get Wrong About the Family
Conservatives are wrong to accuse the liberals of relativism. They are not relativists, but have fanatical attachment to certain ideals, which conservatives often fail to understand. One such ideal is autonomy, which guides their entire sexual agenda. As I argue in “The Obligations of Family Life: A Response to Modern Liberalism,” the Left’s understanding of… -
news
3 People Behind the Effort to Remove Judge for Her Views on Marriage
Her cell phone rang while Judge Ruth Neely was hanging Christmas lights outside her home in Pinedale, Wyoming. She didn’t notice that she had missed a call until she went inside to untangle a string of lights. When Neely called back, the young man who answered identified himself as a reporter from the local newspaper…. -
news
Judge Faces Removal, $40K Fine Because of Her Beliefs About Marriage
A state agency wants to remove a small-town judge in Wyoming from two posts because she told a reporter that her religious beliefs would prevent her from solemnizing same-sex marriages. In her full-time responsibilities, Municipal Judge Ruth Neely isn’t authorized to preside over marriages. In part-time duties on the local Circuit Court, though, she could… -
news
A Family-Owned Business Braces for California’s Minimum Wage Hike
SAN DIEGO—Elvin Lai has been in the hospitality business his entire life. The San Diego hotel where he serves as chief executive officer has been in his family for four generations, and Lai can rattle off childhood memories of his younger years spent at the beachfront property. Lai asked that his hotel name not be… -
opinion
Mississippi Moves to Protect Religious Freedom on Marriage
This morning, the Mississippi House passed a bill, HB 1523, protecting religious freedom. If the House disposes of a procedural maneuver that has delayed a final vote until Monday, the bill will go to the governor’s desk for his signature, as the Senate passed the bill earlier this week. The bill is good policy and the governor should…