GOODRIDGE REACTIONS: MARRIAGEMOVEMENT.ORG

There's an interesting debate going on at the Marriage Movement blog, between Tom Sylvester and Elizabeth Marquardt:

Sylvester: ...It seems that civil unions won't suffice, so Massachusetts has three options: 1) amend their state constitution to prohibit same-sex marriage, 2) get the state out of the marriage business, or 3) allow same-sex marriage. I like option 3.

Option 1 offends both liberty and equality. It's just not a good idea to put discriminatory writing in a Constitution. ...

Option 2 closes the swimming pool, so to speak. After civil rights rulings that prohibited racial segregation at public pools, some towns in the South closed the pools because racist whites would rather have no pools than share them with blacks. I doubt the vast majority of heterosexuals are so hateful towards gays that they'd start refusing to marry. Gay marriage won't "destroy" marriage, but getting the state out of the marriage business would powerfully weaken the institution.

Option 3 allows gays and lesbians in committed relationships to make a state-recognized lifetime commitment to the person they love. There is a lot to celebrate there. This decision could turn out to be one of the great civil rights moments in my lifetime.

Also, Option 3 bypasses the whole civil unions morass. ...

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Marquardt: I disagree with Tom's suggestion that civil unions will lead to a marriage menu. Actually, I think it is gay marriage that will more likely lead to a marriage menu, for this reason. Gay marriage is much more controversial than civil unions and is unlikely to be made the law of the land in one fell swoop. It is much more likely, as many have argued before me, to arrive piecemeal, first in Massachusetts, then gradually in other states that Massachusetts-married couples challenge to recognize their marriages, or in states where advocates are pursuing same-sex marriage.

It will be a battle in each state and states will vary in how they handle it. Some may create same-sex marriage, some civil unions, some more stringent domestic partnership laws, some may ban some or all of the above. ...In various ways a patchwork quilt of marriage law will spring up.

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Eve says: Eh, I think the state-by-state battles Marquardt fears are coming no matter what happens with same-sex marriage. Wish I didn't think that, but I do.
posted by Eve at 11:32 PM | link

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