ProtectMarriage.com’s attorney Charles Cooper blantantly lied yesterday and misquoted statistics during the first day of the Perry v. Schwarzenegger trail. (aka The Prop 8 Trial)

Cooper yesterday argue how legalizing same-sex marriage would lead to fewer marriages?  (Actually wouldn’t it lead to MORE marriages?)  And according to Nate Silver the data actually shows a clear trend that states that have not passed a state constitutional ban on gay marriage actually are the states that have a decline in divorce rates  These states saw their divorce rates decrease by an average of 8 percent between 2003 and 2008. States which had passed a same-sex marriage ban as of January 1, 2008, however, saw their divorce rates rise by about 1 percent over the same period.  Amd lets not forget Massachusettes where divorce levels have dropped to below WWII levels since they legalized gay marriage.

Now none of this actually is to say that gay marriage bans create divorce, but it’s worth pointing out just for the simple fact that Charles Cooper is blatantly lying and submitting false information to the court as evidence.