John Corvino and Maggie Gallagher: Debating Same-Sex Marriage

Abstract

With the recent US Supreme Court cases finding the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional and removing impediments to same-sex marriage in California, as well as a number of recent successes in special elections and with legislators in the US and other countries, we might wonder whether there is still need for a book debating same-sex marriage. Is not the tide of history inevitably moving towards marriage equality? While that position seems tempting, it is too quick. A numerical majority of US states still do not recognize same-sex marriages, and only a minority of countries in the world do. France recently experienced large-scale protests against same-sex marriage, and generalized antihomosexual feelings are rapidly being written into law in Russia, including potential criminal penalties for spreading ‘‘pro-homosexual propaganda’’ and the possibility that homosexual parents will have their parental rights taken away by the state. The issue, then, remains a live one, and Corvino and Gallagher’s debate is still timely.