A MARRIAGE MADE IN HISTORY: Don Browning and Elizabeth Marquardt

Both supporters and opponents of same-sex marriage make their case with hypothetical arguments about its social effects and claims about the history of marriage. Unfortunately, we know next to nothing about the first subject, and proponents of same-sex marriage have mischaracterized the second. ...

Legalizing same-sex marriage does not simply extend an old institution to a new group of people. It changes the definition of marriage, reducing it primarily to an affectionate sexual relationship accompanied by a declaration of commitment. It then gives this more narrow view of marriage all of the cultural, legal and public support that marriage gained when its purpose was to encourage and temper a more complex set of goals and motivations.

Same-sex marriage changes the purpose of marriage law. It no longer will serve, in concert with other aspects of society, to direct sexual and parental behavior to achieve a complex synthesis of goods. It will function instead to extend marriage privileges to a particular group of sexual partners.

Rather than expanding the status and privileges of marriage to same-sex couples and then gradually to other kinds of caring relationships, as logic would soon require, society should find alternative ways of meeting the needs not only of same-sex couples but also interdependent friends, and dependent but unmarried kin. Tax benefits, legal adoption, welfare transfers, and more refined and accessible legal contracts should all be used to meet these needs--but not the institution of marriage itself.

more

[There's also a very interesting "behind the scenes" post here, in which Elizabeth describes the fierce resistance she faced in trying to get the New York Times to print a liberal case against SSM.]
posted by Eve at 2:00 PM | link

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home