Legalizing Gay Marriage: Vermont And The National Debate

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Temple University Press, 20. 11. 2008. - 352 страница
Every day seems to bring news of legal challenges to existing marriage laws and the constitutionality of any form of union for same-sex partners. In this timely and accessible book, Michael Mello argues that the public debates and political battles that have divided Vermont and Massachusetts will be repeated across the country as state after state confronts the issue of legalizing gay marriage.Michael Mello examines recent landmark decisions in state and federal high courts granting civil rights protections to homosexuals. In Vermont, the Supreme Court's recommendation that legislators recognize the "common humanity" that links all individuals irrespective of sexual identity and consider the question of same-sex marriage resulted in the first state legislation to establish civil union. In Massachusetts, the court's ruling that gay marriage is a right protected by the state constitution has plunged the legislature into a contentious debate about a constitutional amendment. In both states, as in California and New York, public discussion of equal civil protections for gays and lesbians soon become mired in contending views of morality, religion, social mores, and the sanctity of heterosexual marriage.Mello regards the widespread and virulent opposition to any form of same-sex unions as proof that in Vermont, as elsewhere, homosexuals are indeed a "despised minority" in need of the law's protection. Thus, civil union laws represent only a partial victory because they create a separate and inherently unequal category of relationships for gay people. Mello's analysis of the issues provides an invaluable guide to the battles being waged in state legislatures and by politicians at the national level.

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A Preview of Americas War over SameSex Civil Marriage
1
A Legitimate Exercise in Constitutional Adjudication
27
A Despised Minority in Vermont
45
Enacting Civil Unions as an Alternative to Civil Marriage
74
Whats Wrong with Vermonts Civil Marriage Substitute
142
Three Years After
193
Vermont Supreme Court Decision for Baker v State
197
Notes
257
Index
331
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Michael Mello is Professor of Law at Vermont Law School and the author of five books on capital punishment, including The Wrong Man: A True Story of Innocence on Death Row and Deathwork: Defending the Condemned.

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