William N. Eskridge Jr. - Marriage Equality: From Outlaws to In-Laws

YALE LAW LIBRARY SERIES IN LEGAL HISTORY AND REFERENCE

MARRIAGE EQUALITY

FROM OUTLAWS TO IN-LAWS

William N. Eskridge Jr. Christopher R. Riano

NEW HAVEN AND LONDON

Published with support from the Lillian Goldman Law Library, Yale Law School.

Copyright 2020 by William N. Eskridge Jr. and Christopher R. Riano.
All rights reserved.
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2020935693
ISBN 978-0-300-22181-7 (hardcover: alk. paper)

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (Permanence of Paper).

To Elizabeth Eskridge, Lois van Beers, Ben van Eskridge, and Mei van Eskridge
W.N.E., Jr.

To Dr. William G. Gorman and Mrs. Edna E. Gorman, Mr. Robert M. Riano, and Dr. Matthew M. Krumholtz
C.R.R.

ACLU American Civil Liberties Union, a national organization with thousands of affiliated attorneys who litigate to protect First Amendment and other rights. Its Womens Rights Project (WRP) persuaded the Supreme Court to treat sex as a quasi-suspect classification for equal protection purposes. Its Lesbian and Gay Rights Project (now called the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender and HIV Project), established in 1986, was centrally involved in the marriage debate.

ACT-UP AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power, founded in 1987 by Larry Kramer to empower persons with AIDS to demand more responsive health care policies from the government and private institutions.

ADF Alliance Defense Fund or (after 2012) Alliance Defending Freedom, a national organization with thousands of affiliated attorneys who litigate to defend religious freedom, pro-life views, and traditional family values. Founded in 1993 by Focus on the Family and other Christian advocacy groups.

AFA American Family Association, founded as the National Federation for Decency in 1977 (renamed AFA in 1988) by Rev. Donald Wildmon as a network of Christian radio stations and other media outlets.

AIDS Acquired immune deficiency syndrome, a breakdown of the bodys immune system, associated with infection by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

ARLINGTON GROUP A coalition of traditional values organizations established in 2003, with its initial goal support for the FMA.

ART Assisted reproductive technology, such as assisted insemination, in vitro fertilization, and surrogacy.

BYU Brigham Young University, the flagship educational institution for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

CAP Center for Arizona Policy, a traditionalist political and lobbying organization in Phoenix.

CCF Campaign for California Families, founded by Randy Thomasson, to support Proposition 22 in 2000 and to head off efforts by California LGBT groups to expand the definition of marriage.

CCV Citizens for Community Values, founded in 1983 to combat pornography and other affronts to traditional morality in Cincinnati. CCV was the prime mover behind DOMA.

CFV Colorado Family Values, created in 1991 to develop and support Amendment 2 to the Colorado Constitution.

CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST Short form for Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Before 2018, this church was often referred to as the LDS Church and its members as Mormons, but the Church in 2018 announced that these short forms were inconsistent with its core identification with Christ. We have sometimes used the earlier terms where our sources (including the Church itself) used them.

CLOSET Secrecy or denial about a feature core to a persons identity because one fears social disapproval. In the late 1960s, coming out of the closet was a term popularized by the gay community for the process of becoming open about ones sexual (and, later, gender) identity.

CWA Concerned Women for America, founded by Beverly LeHaye in 1979 to support traditional family values and pro-life policies.

DOMA Defense of Marriage Act of 1996. Section 2 authorized states to refuse to recognize out-of-state marriages between persons of the same sex. Section 3 defined marriage and spouse everywhere in federal statutory and regulatory law to exclude same-sex marriages, even if legally valid.

ENDA Employment Non-Discrimination Act, introduced as a bill in 1995 and in subsequent Congresses. If enacted, ENDA would have barred employment discrimination because of sexual orientation. In 2007, the ENDA bill was revised to include gender identity discrimination. After 2015, the LGBTQ rights movement dropped ENDA and pressed for a broader Equality Act.

ERA Equal Rights Amendment, passed by Congress and referred to the states for ratification in 1972. An effective campaign by STOP ERA prevented the ERA from securing ratification by the necessary thirty-eight states by 1982, when the (once-extended) deadline for ratification expired. Most states have passed ERA amendments to their constitutions.

EVANGELICALS Christians who hew closely to what they consider the strict lessons of Scripture and who enthusiastically share the Good News with others and with their communities. Broadly understood, Evangelicals would include most Baptists as well as Pentecostals, Mennonites, Southern Methodists, and members of the Church of God, Lutheran ChurchMissouri Synod, and the Presbyterian Church in America, among others. Most independent megachurches consider themselves Evangelical. See NEA.

FMA Federal Marriage Amendment, a proposal advanced in 2002 and subsequent years to amend the US Constitution to bar same-sex marriage and to prevent courts from requiring that marital benefits be extended to unmarried couples. Starting in 2005, the proposals were called the Marriage Protection Amendment.

FRC Family Research Council, created in 1983 as a spin-off from Focus on the Family. Working out of Washington, DC, FRC engages in public education and lobbying from a conservative Christian family values perspective.

FRI Family Research Institute, located in Colorado Springs and operated by Paul Cameron, a discredited social scientist.

GAY Term used to self-identify by people attracted to persons of the same sex in the 1960s and afterward but sometimes still used as a general term for gender as well as sexual minorities, similar to LGBTQ.

GAYOCRACY Leaders of the political and legal movement seeking rights and benefits for LGBTQ+ persons. The gayocracy includes prominent movement lawyers and organizational officials, their academic allies, funders, and even celebrities. (Robert Raben originated this term.)

GLAAD Founded in 1985 as the Gay and Lesbian Anti-Defamation League, and soon renamed the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. Since 2013, GLAAD is the official name, no longer just its acronym.

GLAD Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, a Boston-based gay rights advocacy organization founded in 1979, now renamed GLBTQ Advocates & Defenders. GLAD lawyers were partners in all of the New England marriage cases as well as in subsequent challenges to DOMA.