Politics & Gay Rights, United States Constitutions - Federal & State, U.S. Constitution, Gay & Lesbian Marriage, Domestic Relations Law - Marriage

Same-Sex Marriage and the Constitution

Name: Same-Sex Marriage and the Constitution
Author: Evan Gerstmann
ISBN: 9780521709132

by Evan Gerstmann

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Overview

Does the Constitution protect the right to same-sex marriage? Much of the writing on this subject has been highly one-sided. This book takes a careful second look at the issue. Not only does it carefully look at the legal debate, but it also asks whether, in a democratic society, the courts should settle this question rather than the voters and it takes on the issue of whether such a court-created law could be effective in the face of public opposition. The book argues that this issue is one of the most significant constitutional issues facing society because it challenges society's commitment to the promise of true legal equality.

Synopsis

There is long-standing constitutional protection of the right to marry that applies to same-sex couples.

The Washington Post

By the time you read this, the Massachusetts Supreme Court may have decided whether or not the Constitution protects a right to gay marriage. Regardless of what the court decides, it will hardly settle what has become one of our most hotly contested constitutional debates. Evan Gerstmann's new book, Same-Sex Marriage and the Constitution, won't settle it either; but it is a clear and fair-minded guide to the strengths and weaknesses of the leading constitutional arguments for and against gay marriage.—Jeffrey Rosen

About the Author, Evan Gerstmann

Evan Gerstmann is Associate Professor and Chair of Political Science at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (1996) and a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School (cum laude, 1986). He is the author of two books on constitutional law: Same-Sex Marriage and the Constitution (2003) and The Constitutional Underclass: Gays, Lesbians, and the Failure of Class-Based Equal Protection (1999), and has coauthored a third book, Academic Freedom at the Dawn of a New Century: How Terrorism, Governments, and Culture Wars Impact Free Speech (2006). His other publications have appeared in PS: Political Science and Politics and The Journal of International Law and International Relations, and his works have been reviewed in numerous journals, including The New Republic, The Washington Post, The Nation, and The Chronicle of Higher Education.