Overview

As gay marriage has moved to the forefront of political discourse in the United States, its proponents and opponents have vastly different views of the effects such unions would have on society. While proponents suggest they would not lead to problems, opponents of same-sex marriage often claim that it would lead to the downfall of the institution of marriage and would harm children. Traditionalists have recently based this latter defense-of-marriage argument upon the experiences of foreign countries - particularly the Scandinavian countries, where same-sex couples have enjoyed the rights and benefits of marriage since 1989. Gay Marriage: For Better or For Worse? is the first book to present empirical evidence about the effects of same-sex marriage, based on almost two decades worth of data and experience from the Nordic countries. Darren R. Spedale and William N. Eskridge, Jr. look at how same-sex marriage (in the form of registered partnerships) came to be in Scandinavia; who is getting married and why they are tying the knot; the Church's reception to same-sex unions; and how same-sex marriage has affected the couples, their families, their children, and their greater communities, both nationally and internationally. Spedale and Eskridge find that the defense-of-marriage argument is inconsistent with the Scandinavian evidence. In no way has marriage in the Nordic countries suffered from legalization of same-sex unions; if anything, it has benefited. If we look at the proof from abroad, we must conclude that the sanctioning of gay marriage in the United States would neither undermine marriage as an institution nor harm the well-being of our nation's children.

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9781280845819

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