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Welcome to the Family Beacon, your source for news and commentary on life, family, and religious freedom in Minnesota and beyond! You now have three ways to get our updates: by watching our podcast on YouTube or Facebook, or listening to it on Apple Podcasts or other platforms, or by reading our top stories below!

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• Blog: Want to Help Families? Don't Penalize Marriage
• Blog: The Hidden LGBT Agenda in the Infrastructure Bill

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Want to Help Families? Don't Penalize Marriage

“Tying the knot sometimes means paying more in taxes,” warns the headline of an article cautioning newlyweds to be prepared for some potential surprises from the IRS when filing their taxes. But in many cases, policies that penalize marriage are more than simply an unpleasant surprise from the IRS. Marriage penalties, either in the form of increased taxes or loss of access to means-tested benefits, have harmful effects, especially on working-class families. Studies indicate that marriage penalties are associated with lower rates of marriage and higher rates of cohabitation. A 2016 report found that almost one-third of American adults knew someone who had not married for fear of losing means-tested benefits and that middle-class families with moderate education levels were the most likely to say that they knew someone who had not gotten married out of fear of losing welfare, Medicaid, or other benefits. Policies that penalize marriage are especially concerning as marriage rates have recently hit an all-time low and many couples are choosing cohabitation instead of marriage.

Currently, only half of the children in America are being raised by their married birth parents. Children are most likely to thrive when they are raised by married parents, and living with cohabitating parents does not bring the same level of stability to a child’s life. Marriage also plays an important role in upward mobility and is a key predictor of economic success. Policies that devalue marriage and family have real consequences that impact parents, children, and entire communities.

There has been a rapid and significant decline in marriage among working and middle-class families in recent decades and unfortunately, working and middle-class families are the most likely to be impacted by marriage penalties. Writing for the National Review, Brad Wilcox and Erik Randolph reported last year that marriage penalties can end up robbing working-class families of between 10 and 30 percent of their real income.

The Hidden LGBT Agenda in the Infrastructure Bill

You have probably heard much about the so-called “infrastructure bill” over the past few weeks, culminating with its passage in the United States Senate just a couple of days ago. The bill now heads to the House of Representatives for a vote. But did you know that the infrastructure bill isn’t just about highways, railroads, and broadband?

That’s right – tucked away in the bill are hidden provisions known as “SOGI language.” SOGI stands for “sexual orientation and gender identity.” The infrastructure bill, which just passed the Senate, proposes to elevate the SOGI groups to federally protected classes, even though those classes are poorly defined.

This hidden provision is a threat to religious freedom in Minnesota and across the United States. In addition to threatening religious freedom, these provisions threaten the safety and privacy of women and girls. Minnesotans and Americans who support things like traditional marriage and the rights of women and girls to have access to safe, single-sex facilities and programs, may be targeted and accused of discrimination for living according to their own beliefs. The Daily Citizen writes,

These types of laws are like a Trojan Horse. Though their purpose is ostensibly to prevent discrimination against people based on their sexual orientation or gender identity, often, their real result is coercion, permitting discrimination against Christians who hold to historic Christian teachings on sexual morality.

These SOGI provisions stand in direct conflict with religious freedom and the safety and privacy of women and girls.

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