Same-Sex Marriage

Few recent topics have claimed as much media and political attention as the fight for the right of same-sex couples to marry legally. Striking at the heart of beliefs about sexuality, marriage, family, and child-rearing, the debate has touched off national and international debate. In this practical guide to the issues and their history, the authors present the issues as a courtroom case would be presented to the jury--with an opening statement, expert testimony, and a closing argument in support of same-sex marriage. Chapters explore how we have arrived at our current understandings of homosexuality and marriage, the impact of same-sex marriage on same-sex relationships and families, the practical civil benefits denied to persons who are not allowed to marry, and the 40-year evolution in the law as it relates to sex and reproduction. This book provides a reasoned and informed history of the subject, and is ideal for readers in government, social work, and the law--and anyone curious about where this contentious issue is headed.

DONALD J. CANTOR and CAMPBELL D. BARRETT are lawyers with practices in Hartford, Connecticut. ELIZABETH CANTOR is a licensed clinical psychologist in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. JAMES C. BLACK is Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Connecticut. Donald Cantor and James Black co-authored Child Custody (1989).