Deploring big judicial steps that broaden protections and rights for diverse, even same-sex relationships, conservatives sharpen the contrasts between relationships and marriage. They hope that the Defense of Marriage Act (1996) and sundry state laws will slow (maybe reverse) current trends, but they see same-sex marriages on the horizon. Advocates of change, arguing equality and celebrating committed relationships, underscore the states' custom of acknowledging other states' marriages, even ones locally forbidden (for example, on age or consanguinity grounds). Do Canada, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Vermont predict the future? This debate wonderfully articulates what is at stake….Highly recommended. All levels and collections.

Choice

[t]he editors of Marriage and Same-Sex Unions: A Debate have laid the groundwork necessary to achieve their purpose of educating a broader audience on the intricacies of the controversy….[w]ritten and published before Lawrence v. Texas (2003), which sparked the call for a Federal Marriage Amendment that would limit marriage to heterosexual relationships. Given these recent developments and the profile that such an issue is likely to receive in our political science and constitutional law classes, understanding both sides of the gay marriage argument is ever more important. This book can provide the instructor with an understanding of the significant legal arguments on both sides of the gay marriage question.

The Law and Politics Book Review

New and previously published writings on the question of whether to extend state recognition to same-sex unions.

The Chronicle of Higher Education