BEYOND EQUALITY AND LIBERTY: Dale Carpenter

[Important piece. --Eve]

...Marriage is the perfect example of why we've hit this wall. Marriage is neither egalitarian nor libertarian. It is practically the opposite of these things and that is why appeals to anti-discrimination principles and individual rights fall flat.

Consider first how inegalitarian marriage is. Marriage, by law and custom, is judgmental. It says that some ways of living are better than others. Some relationships are better than others. Sex within marriage is better for people than sex outside of it. Monogamy is better than promiscuity. People should make babies when they are married, but not when they are not. Children are better off raised by two people than by a single person or by three people or by a commune.

Marriage gives to some relationships, but not to any others, an array of social support, benefits, and legal protections. In other words, marriage creates status hierarchies that are antithetical to the liberal egalitarianism that has dominated the gay civil rights movement for almost 40 years. ...

Marriage is founded on neither equality nor liberty. It is in some ways the negation of these. It is a way of binding people together in a union that is thought to benefit the couple, any children they raise, and the community around them, to an extent that other relationships simply do not. That's why it is a social institution. It is shaped by and helps to nurture the society in which it arises.

If we are to get gay marriage, we must be able to appeal to the bulk of the country that properly understands marriage in this way. We must argue for it not primarily on the basis of anti-discrimination principles, or on the basis of individual liberty, but on the basis of community. It is like nothing else we've fought for.

more
posted by Eve at 2:56 PM | link

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home