 Cover of the first edition | |
| Author | Davina Kotulski |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Subject | Same-sex marriage |
| Publisher | Advocate Books |
Publication date | 2004 |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 202 |
| ISBN | 1555838731 |
| LC Class | HQ1034.U5 K67 2004 |
Why You Should Give a Damn About Gay Marriage is a 2004 book by Davina Kotulski in which the author advocates the legal recognition of same-sex marriage. It received generally positive reviews in the LGBT press.
Kotulski states that heterosexual couples who marry in the United States gain at least 1,049 federal rights, all of which are denied to same-sex couples who cannot legally marry. [1] She rejects alternatives to marriage such as domestic partnership and civil union, describing these as inferior options for gay people. [2]
Davina Kotulski is a clinical psychologist and LGBT rights activist. [3] Why You Should Give a Damn About Gay Marriage was her first book; according to Kotulski, she wrote it in four and a half months. [4] The book was first published in April 2004 by Advocate Books, an imprint of Alyson Publications. [5]
Kotulski and McKay received the "Defenders of Love" Award from the East Bay Pride Committee, and in 2004, she received the "Saints Alive" award from the San Francisco Metropolitan Community Church and was "sainted" by the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence for her activism and advocacy for same-sex marriage. In 2006, Kotulski and McKay received the Michael "Switzer Leadership Award" from New Leaf Counseling Center in San Francisco.[ citation needed ]
Why You Should Give a Damn About Gay Marriage received positive reviews from Brad Benedict in Ambush Magazine, [3] Joe E. Jeffreys in the Bay Area Reporter , [6] the novelist Lori L. Lake in Sinister Wisdom , [7] and Steffen Silvis in Willamette Week . [8] It received a mixed review from Andrew Hicks in The Gayly Oklahoman. [9]
Benedict described Why You Should Give a Damn About Gay Marriage as "a quick-witted, common sense handbook" and "a vital resource" for journalists covering the same-sex marriage debate. [3] Jeffreys wrote that Kotulski had used "easy-to-understand, lively, conversational prose" to explain complicated legal matters. He credited her with advancing a "solid and speedy" argument for supporting same-sex marriage. [6] Lake called the book "a quick and simple read". She predicted that readers would "begin to see new possibilities in their lives, and be inspired to join the growing freedom to marry movement". [7]
Silvis wrote that, as a queer person, he had previously "looked disdainfully upon gay marriage as a plot to domesticate our uniqueness"; however, Kotulski's book had convinced him otherwise. He credited her with arguing rigorously for "a wider definition of marriage" and convincingly addressing objections. [8] Hicks found the beginning chapters "vivid and exciting", but believed that the later ones lacked entertainment value and contained too many illustrations and diagrams. [9]
Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. As of 2023, marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, constituting some 1.35 billion people, with the most recent being Mexico. In Andorra, a law allowing same-sex marriage will come into force on 17 February 2023.
Margaret Gallagher is an American writer, socially conservative commentator, and activist. She wrote a syndicated column for Universal Press Syndicate from 1995 to 2013 and has written several books. Gallagher founded the Institute for Marriage and Public Policy, a small, socially conservative think tank. She is also a co-founder of the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), an advocacy group which opposes same-sex marriage and other legal recognition of same-sex partnerships; she has served as president and as chairman of the board of NOM.
Same-sex marriage in Ireland has been legal since 16 November 2015. A referendum on 22 May 2015 amended the Constitution of Ireland to provide that marriage is recognised irrespective of the sex of the partners. The measure was signed into law by the President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins, as the Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland on 29 August 2015. The Marriage Act 2015, passed by the Oireachtas on 22 October 2015 and signed into law by the Presidential Commission on 29 October 2015, gave legislative effect to the amendment. Same-sex marriages in the Republic of Ireland began being recognised from 16 November 2015, and the first marriage ceremonies of same-sex couples in Ireland occurred the following day.
Same-sex marriage in Massachusetts has been legally recognized since May 17, 2004, as a result of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) ruling in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health that it was unconstitutional under the Massachusetts Constitution to allow only opposite-sex couples to marry. Massachusetts became the sixth jurisdiction in the world to legalize same-sex marriage. It was the first U.S. state to open marriage to same-sex couples.
Antisexualism is opposition or hostility towards sexual behavior and sexuality.
Kenneth Brian Mehlman is an American social entrepreneur and businessman. He serves as a member, global head of public affairs, and co-head of KKR global impact at investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts. He oversees the firm's responsible investment efforts, leading the firm's Environmental Social Governance programs. Prior to joining KKR, Mehlman spent a year as an attorney and partner at law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld. In January 2017, Mehlman announced that he would act as chairman of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Policy Advisory Board.
"There's Something About Marrying" is the tenth episode of the sixteenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. In the episode, Springfield legalizes same-sex marriage to increase tourism. After becoming a minister, Homer starts to wed people to make money. Meanwhile, Marge's sister Patty comes out as a lesbian and reveals that she is going to marry a woman named Veronica. Marge originally disapproves of this, making Patty frustrated. When Marge accidentally discovers that Veronica is a man cross-dressed as a woman, she decides to keep quiet about it knowing that Patty will be marrying a man. However, at the ceremony, she is so moved by Patty's vow that she is forced to reveal Veronica's secret. After the ceremony is abruptly cancelled, Marge tells Patty that she now accepts her sexuality.
Evan Wolfson is an attorney and gay rights advocate. He is the founder of Freedom to Marry, a group favoring same-sex marriage in the United States, serving as president until its 2015 victory and subsequent wind-down. Wolfson authored the book Why Marriage Matters: America, Equality, and Gay People's Right to Marry, which Time Out New York magazine called, "Perhaps the most important gay-marriage primer ever written". He was listed as one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people in the world. He has taught as an adjunct professor at Columbia Law School, Rutgers Law School, and Whittier Law School and argued before the Supreme Court in Boy Scouts of America v. Dale. He now teaches law and social change at Georgetown Law School and at Yale University; serves as a senior counsel at Dentons, the world's largest law firm; and primarily provides advice and assistance to other organizations and causes, in the United States and globally, that are seeking to adapt the lessons on "how to win" from the same-sex marriage movement.
Same-sex marriage in Connecticut has been legally recognized since November 12, 2008, following a state court decision that found the state's civil unions failed to provide same-sex couples with rights and privileges equivalent to those of marriage. Connecticut was the second U.S. state to legalize same-sex marriage, after neighboring Massachusetts.
Same-sex marriage is not legal in Israel. The government has registered same-sex marriages performed abroad for some purposes since 2006. However, marriages performed in Israel are only available from one of the 15 religious marriage courts recognized by the state, none of which permit same-sex marriage under their respective auspices. Consequently, Israelis who desire to have their same-sex marriage recognized by the government must first marry outside Israel, in a jurisdiction where such marriages are legal, and then register upon returning home.
Michael Leshner and Michael Stark, also known as The Michaels, were the men who in 2003 entered into the first legal same-sex marriage in Canada. They were consequently named the Canadian Newsmakers of the Year by Time magazine.
All homosexual or same-sex sexual activity is forbidden by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in its law of chastity, and the church teaches that God does not approve of same-sex marriage. Adherents who participate in same-sex sexual behavior may face church discipline. Members of the church who experience homosexual attractions, including those who self-identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual remain in good standing in the church if they abstain from same-sex marriage and all sexual relations outside an opposite-sex marriage, but all, including those participating in same-sex activity and relationships, are allowed to attend weekly church worship services. However, in order to receive church ordinances such as baptism, and to enter church temples, adherents are required to abstain from same-sex relations or any sexual activity outside a legal marriage between one man and one woman. Additionally, in the church's plan of salvation noncelibate gay and lesbian individuals will not be allowed in the top tier of heaven to receive exaltation unless they repent, and a heterosexual marriage is a requirement for exaltation. The church's policies and treatment of LGBT people has long been a source of controversy both within and outside the church. They have also been a significant cause of disagreement and disaffection by members.
Molly B. McKay is an American attorney and a civil rights activist for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals. McKay was the former Co-Executive Director of Marriage Equality California and the former Media Director for Marriage Equality USA. She has also been active in Californians for Same Sex Marriage and the California Freedom to Marry Coalition, and was the Associate Executive Director of Equality California. McKay married her longtime partner Davina Kotulski in 2004 when Gavin Newsom made same sex marriage legal for one day in San Francisco.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender+ (LGBT+) persons in Namibia face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity is not banned in Namibia, and households headed by same-sex couples are not eligible for the same legal protections available to opposite-sex couples.
Marriage privatization is the concept that the state should have no authority to define the terms of personal relationships such as marriage. Proponents of marriage privatization, including certain minarchists, anarchists, libertarians, and opponents of government interventionism, claim that such relationships are best defined by private individuals and not the state. Arguments for the privatization of marriage have been offered by a number of scholars and writers. Proponents of marriage privatization often argue that privatizing marriage is a solution to the social controversy over same-sex marriage. Arguments for and against the privatization of marriage span both liberal and conservative political camps.
Many views are held or have been expressed by religious organizations in relation to same-sex marriage. Arguments both in favor of and in opposition to same-sex marriage are often made on religious grounds and/or formulated in terms of religious doctrine. Although many of the world's religions are opposed to same-sex marriage, the number of religious denominations that are conducting same-sex marriages have been increasing since 2010. Religious views on same-sex marriage are closely related to religious views on homosexuality.
The Marriage Equality Caravan, or Marriage Equality Express, was an educational bus tour organized by the California chapter of Marriage Equality USA, in response to the invalidation by the California Supreme Court, on August 11, 2004, of 4,000 same-sex marriages that had taken place between February 12 and March 11 of that year. The tour was led by Davina Kotulski, Molly McKay, Belinda Ryan, Wendy Daw, Jacqueline Frank, and Bev Senkowski.
The Empire State Pride Agenda (ESPA) was a statewide political advocacy organization in New York that advocated for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights, including same-sex marriage. ESPA has since disbanded after an executive order was passed by Governor Andrew Cuomo which protects the rights of transgender citizens as long as future governors uphold the law. ESPA was founded in 1990 through the merger of the New York State Gay and Lesbian Lobby and the Friends and Advocates for Individual Rights. ESPA was considered the leading gay political organization in the State of New York before it disbanded. As of 2005, ESPA was the largest statewide lesbian and gay political advocacy and civil rights organization in the United States.
Kitchen v. Herbert, 961 F.Supp.2d 1181, affirmed, 755 F.3d 1193 ; stay granted, 134 S.Ct. 893 (2014); petition for certiorari denied, No. 14-124, 2014 WL 3841263, is the federal case that successfully challenged Utah's constitutional ban on marriage for same-sex couples and similar statutes. Three same-sex couples filed suit in March 2013, naming as defendants Utah Governor Gary R. Herbert, Attorney General John Swallow, and Salt Lake County Clerk Sherrie Swensen in their official capacities.
Gay Marriage: Why It Is Good for Gays, Good for Straights, and Good for America is a 2004 book by the journalist Jonathan Rauch in which the author advocates the legal and social recognition of same-sex marriage.