America's Struggle for Same-Sex Marriage. By Daniel R. Pinello. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006. Pp. xiii+213. $55.00 cloth; $19.99 paper.

Abstract

America's Struggle for Same-Sex Marriage. By Daniel R. Pinello. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006. Pp. xiii+213. $55.00 cloth; $19.99 paper. Reviewed by Kathleen E. Hull, University of Minnesota The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court's ruling in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health in November 2003, finding right to marriage for same-sex couples, triggered chain of highly visible and dramatic developments in marriage law and politics. In early 2004, after hearing President George W. Bush vow to protect the sanctity of marriage in his State of the Union address, newly elected San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom took the bold step of having his city hall issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Local authorities in several jurisdictions around the country-including Sandoval County in New Mexico, Multnomah County in Oregon, and tiny New Paltz, New York-quickly followed suit. These marriages were eventually voided by courts, but they further dramatized the rights claims of same-sex couples. In May 2004, Massachusetts began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples residing in the state, and it remains the only state with legal samesex marriage. In reaction, 13 states passed constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage in late 2004, and some political analysts concluded that these amendments helped galvanize social conservative voters and secure President Bush's re-election. Since the 2004 elections, three more state supreme courts have ruled on same-sex marriage rights, with two rejecting such claims (New York and Washington) and one finding right to the legal equivalent of marriage (New Jersey). With court cases and amendment battles pending in several other states, the end of the story of legal same-sex marriage in the United States remains unwritten. Daniel Pinello's book America's Struggle for Same-Sex Marriage provides carefully researched and clearly written account of the legal and political events catalyzed by the Goodridge ruling. Using information from 85 in-depth interviews with activists, government officials, and ordinary same-sex couples, Pinello paints detailed portraits of how the marriage battles unfolded in various locales. The book begins with the somewhat quirky case of Sandoval County, New Mexico, where renegade Republican county clerk issued 64 marriage licenses in one day, and later chapters document more extensively the conflicts in Massachusetts, California, Oregon, and New York. Pinello asserts that his case studies represent a microcosm of the American legal and political universe (p. 30), raising broader questions about the role and impact of courts in democratic society, the influence of interest groups, and the interplay of policy initiative and political process. Pinello argues that Goodridge and the ensuing events will prove highly significant in historical terms, and he expresses confidence (as same-sex marriage supporter) that the long-term progress set in motion by Goodridge will ultimately outweigh the short-term backlash it so obviously provoked. This book has considerable strengths, including access to key players in same-sex marriage contests at the local and national levels, writing style that is relatively free of social science jargon, and willingness to let informants speak for themselves at some length, which sometimes produces fascinating nuggets of information and insight. Some of the more striking observations come from people involved in the month-long Winter of Love in February-March 2004, when San Francisco City Hall issued marriage licenses to more than 4,000 same-sex couples. …