Jon Rauch on gay marriage

My previous post on gay marriage generated a fair amount of discussion pro and con. So, for those still interested in the issue, check out Jonathan Rauch’s affecting New York Times Magazine essay on the subject. The most compelling section: A solitary individual lives on the frontier of vulnerability. Marriage creates kin, someone whose first ...

By , a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast.

My previous post on gay marriage generated a fair amount of discussion pro and con. So, for those still interested in the issue, check out Jonathan Rauch's affecting New York Times Magazine essay on the subject. The most compelling section:

My previous post on gay marriage generated a fair amount of discussion pro and con. So, for those still interested in the issue, check out Jonathan Rauch’s affecting New York Times Magazine essay on the subject. The most compelling section:

A solitary individual lives on the frontier of vulnerability. Marriage creates kin, someone whose first ”job” is to look after you. Gay people, like straight people, become ill or exhausted or despairing and need the comfort and support that marriage uniquely provides. Marriage can strengthen and stabilize their relationships and thereby strengthen the communities of which they are a part. Just as the president says, society benefits when people, including gay people, are durably committed to love and serve one another.

Discuss. UPDATE: Tyler Cowen offers an economic rationale for gay marriages — more money spent on weddings! This reminds me of a moment when this issue flared up in the mid-nineties. I was watching a Sunday morning talk show with a gay friend. At one point she yelled at the television: “I don’t want to overthrow the government!! I don’t want to corrupt your children!! I just want to be able to register at Crate & Barrel!!”

Daniel W. Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast. Twitter: @dandrezner

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