Same-Sex Marriage in the United States
The Road to the Supreme Court and Beyond
By (author) Jason Pierceson
Publication date:
01 April 2014Length of book:
280 pagesPublisher
Rowman & Littlefield PublishersISBN-13: 9781442212053
Same-sex marriage has become one of the defining social issues in contemporary U.S. politics. State court decisions finding in favor of same-sex relationship equality claims have been central to the issue’s ascent from nowhere to near the top of the national political agenda. Same Sex Marriage in the United States tells the story of the legal and cultural shift, its backlash, and how it has evolved over the past 15 years.
This book aids in a classroom examination of the legal, political, and social developments surrounding the issue of same-sex marriage in the United States. While books about same-sex marriage have proliferated in recent years, few, if any, have provided a clear and comprehensive account of the litigation for same-sex marriage, and its successes and failures, as this book does.
Updated through 2013, this edition details the watershed rulings in favor of same-sex marriage: the Supreme Court's June 26th repeal of DOMA, and of Proposition 8 in California, as well as the many states (New Jersey, Illinois, New Mexico, Hawaii, and Nevada among others) where activists and public leaders have made recent strides to ensure that gay couples have an equal right to marry.
This book aids in a classroom examination of the legal, political, and social developments surrounding the issue of same-sex marriage in the United States. While books about same-sex marriage have proliferated in recent years, few, if any, have provided a clear and comprehensive account of the litigation for same-sex marriage, and its successes and failures, as this book does.
Updated through 2013, this edition details the watershed rulings in favor of same-sex marriage: the Supreme Court's June 26th repeal of DOMA, and of Proposition 8 in California, as well as the many states (New Jersey, Illinois, New Mexico, Hawaii, and Nevada among others) where activists and public leaders have made recent strides to ensure that gay couples have an equal right to marry.
This book continues Pierceson’s excellent research on the topic [of same-sex marriage]. This new book tells the story of the legal and cultural shift on same-sex marriage, its backlash, and how it has evolved over the past fifteen years. Unlike other books on the topic, Pierceson provides a comprehensive account of both the successes and failures of the movement from a legal, political, and social perspective. There are many strengths to the book, including Pierceson’s focus on the historical evolution of the issue and a comparative assessment of same-sex marriage around the world, in the various regions of the U.S., and at the state level. It is also a nice addition to the literature on courts and social change and would be a good candidate for classes on the topic. . . . Pierceson’s careful analysis of same-sex marriage in the U.S. persuasively demonstrates the crucial role of courts in achieving social change.