same sex marriage
AND MARRIAGE
Marriage
The Fundamental Argument
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
The basic rationale for marriage would apply equally to
both opposite sex couples and same sex couples.
If (1), then laws against same sex marriage are a denial
of equality.
If laws against same sex marriage are a denial of
equality, then those laws are impermissible, all else
being equal.
All else is equal.
[So] Laws against same sex marriage are impermissible.
The Dictionary Definition
Main Entry: mar·riage
Pronunciation: \mer-ij, ma-rij\
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English mariage, from Anglo-French,
from marier to marry
Date: 14th century
1 a (1) : the state of being united to a person of the opposite sex
as husband or wife in a consensual and contractual
relationship recognized by law (2) : the state of being united
to a person of the same sex in a relationship like that of
a traditional marriage b : the mutual relation of married
persons : WEDLOCK c : the institution whereby individuals are
joined in a marriage
The Legal Definition
In determining the meaning of any Act of Congress, or of
any ruling, regulation, or interpretation of the various
administrative bureaus and agencies of the United States,
the word “marriage” means only a legal union between
one man and one woman as husband and wife, and the
word “spouse” refers only to a person of the opposite sex
who is a husband or a wife.
US Code, Title 1, Chapter 1, Section 7
The Legal Definition
Marriage is one of the "basic civil rights of man," fundamental to
our very existence and survival.... To deny this fundamental
freedom on so unsupportable a basis as the racial
classifications embodied in these statutes, classifications so
directly subversive of the principle of equality at the heart of
the Fourteenth Amendment, is surely to deprive all the State's
citizens of liberty without due process of law. The Fourteenth
Amendment requires that the freedom of choice to marry not
be restricted by invidious racial discrimination. Under our
Constitution, the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of
another race resides with the individual and cannot be
infringed by the State.
Loving v. Virginia
The Etymological Definition
2 : to unite in close and usually permanent relation.
The Etymological Definition
Marriage is a commitment “to have and to hold; from this
day forward; for better or worse; for richer, for poorer; in
sickness and in health; to love and to cherish; ‘til death
do us part.”
Corvino, “What Marriage Is”
Gallagher’s Theory
Marriage is the fundamental, cross-cultural institution for
bridging the male-female divide so that children have
loving, committed mothers and fathers.
Maggie Gallagher,
“What Marriage is For”
Gallagher’s Theory
A family is not an association of independent people; it is a
human commitment designed to make possible the
rearing of moral and healthy children. Governments
care—or ought to care—about families for this reason,
and scarcely for any other.
James Q. Wilson, The Moral Sense
Wedgewood’s Theory
So the essential rational for marriage is simply that many
people want to be married, where this desire to marry is
typically a serious desire that deserves to be respected.
Ralph Wedgewood
“The Fundamental Argument”
Rauch’s Theory
Children are not a trivial reason for marriage; they just
cannot be the only reason.
What are the others? It seems to me that the two strongest
candidates are these: domesticating men and providing
reliable caregivers. Both purposes are critical to the
functioning of a humane and stable society, and both are
much better served by marriage--that is, by one-to-one
lifelong commitment--than by any other institution.
Jonathan Rauch,
“For Better or Worse?”