FOUR NEW BOOKS FOR SSM: From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution

As the battle over same-sex unions heats up in Congress and state legislatures, including Georgia's, four books are hitting the stores with surprisingly timely information and articulate arguments for the rights of gays to marry.

Three of the books are from major, mainstream publishing houses --- Times Books, Simon & Schuster and Harcourt. The fourth is being published by Alyson Publications, which specializes in gay and lesbian titles.

No books presenting the opposing view are on the horizon yet, but given the passion and the politics surrounding the issue, it may be only a matter of time. ...

Three of the best-selling books at Outwrite are David Moats' "Civil Wars" (Harcourt, $25), Jonathan Rauch's "Gay Marriage: Why It Is Good for Gays, Good for Straights, and Good for America" (Times Books, $22) and Davina Kotulski's "Why You Should Give a Damn About Gay Marriage" (Alyson Publications, $12.95 paperback).

Kotulski, who describes her book as "an idiot's guide to gay marriage," focuses on the 1,138 federal and state rights same-sex couples are denied.

"There are things you don't think about," Kotulski says. "Seventy-five percent of all marriage rights are federal. If I died . . . my wife of eight years would not receive the $1,800 a month in Social Security that someone in a heterosexual marriage would receive. Neither would someone in a civil union."

Allowing states to decide the issue creates problems, too, Kotulski says. "In California, I have rights in a domestic partnership, but when I go back to Oregon, where I was born, I have zero rights. This won't work until you have them in all states." ...

Evan Wolfson, an activist lawyer who played a major role in the Hawaii suit, presents his argument for same-sex marriage in "Why Marriage Matters" (Simon & Schuster, $23), a much-anticipated book being launched in July with a 50,000-copy printing and a six-city publicity tour. ...

How a state considered a bedrock of conservatism became a pioneer in gay rights is the subject of Moats' book, "Civil Wars." The Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial page editor of the Rutland [Vt.] Herald focuses on the personal aspects of the battle by telling the stories of the couples who filed the suit, the lawyers who spent years pursuing the case and the one openly gay legislator in Vermont whose impassioned speech won victory for the legislation. ...

"Society wants people to have caretakers, someone who is waiting for you at home and who will look after you," Rauch says. "If we've learned anything from the AIDS crisis, it's that there's no substitute for a caring partner. The community has a stake in that and that's why it gives marriage a special standing."

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