Title: Beyond straight and gay marriage : valuing all families under the law /
Authors: Polikoff, Nancy D.
Publisher: Beacon Press,
Year: 2008
Subjects: Unmarried couples Legal status, laws, etc. United States.; Domestic partner benefits Law and legislation United States.; Same-sex marriage Law and legislation United States; Civil unions Law and legislation United States.; Gay couples Legal status, laws, etc. United States.; Lesbian couples Legal status, laws, etc. United States.
Abstract: The debate over marriage equality for same-sex couples rages across the country. Beyond (Straight and Gay) Marriage boldly moves the discussion forward by focusing on the larger, more fundamental issue of marriage and the law. The root problem, asserts law professor and LGBT rights activist Nancy Polikoff, is that marriage is a bright dividing line between those relationships that legally matter and those that don't. A woman married to a man for nine months is entitled to Social Security survivor's benefits when he dies; a woman living for nineteen years with a man or woman to whom she is not married receives nothing. Polikoff reframes the debate by arguing that all family relationships and households need the economic stability and emotional peace of mind that now extend only to married couples. Unmarried couples of any sexual orientation, single-parent households, extended family units, and myriad other familial configurations need recognition and protection to meet the concerns they all share: building and sustaining economic and emotional interdependence, and nurturing the next generation.
Contents: The changing meaning of marriage -- Gay rights and the conservative backlash -- Redefining family -- The right and the marriage movement -- LGBT families and the marriage equality movement -- Countries where marriage matters less -- Valuing all families -- Domestic partner benefits for all families -- Coping with illness : medical care and family and medical leave -- When a relationship ends through dissolution or death : distributing assets and providing for children -- Losing an economic provider : wrongful death, workers compensation, and social security.