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Rauch's Reasons
For or against marriage, this is a must-read for all.

     In Gay Marriage: Why It Is Good for Gays, Good for Straights, and Good for America, Jonathan Rauch addresses each gay marriage positive or negative he can imagine from every conceivable viewpoint. Rauch is a correspondent for The Atlantic Monthly, writer and columnist for National Journal, and writer in residence at the Brookings Institution. He has calmly and methodically illuminated the argument for same-sex marriage with wit and a true sense of justice. He makes transitions from speaking for one public to the next, and then to his very personal viewpoints with the ease of a trapeze athlete. This ability to walk in the moccasins of others with greatly differing viewpoints in addition to stating his personal attitudes is central to the book’s success. Then, with equal ease, he deftly wraps up his arguments with constructive political approaches for future progress on the issue.
     Rauch, the vice president of the Independent Gay Forum and a DC-area resident, is enthusiastic about marriage for anyone who wishes it. He believes marriage is a great civilizer, especially for males. He says gay marriage will be an inspiration for future lesbian and gay youths as they might, after several generations of marriage for all, be free to dream of growing up to marry a person they love. Even those who are not currently particularly interested in marriage will find this book inspiring. It embraces hope for the future.
     I wish I could get everyone in our country to read this book. Everyone who has thought about same-sex marriage will see his or her thoughts in black and white. They will read new arguments for and against their own views. Rauch makes these arguments craftily, in detail, with nuances few readers have encountered before. Moreover, Rauch has the rare ability to bring his points on both sides of the debate to logical and emotionally effective conclusions. His conclusions support careful, respectful resolution of the current injustices surrounding same-sex marriage: a roadmap for success. Rauch makes an excellent case for marriage in the face of those who say that lesbians and gays "cannot" form permanent relationships in support of children. He rightly takes no prisoners on this point.
      At the same time, he provides an especially helpful and well reasoned case for avoiding halfway partnership approaches: "With social conservatives dead set against same-sex marriage, a variety of 'anything but marriage' alternatives are proliferating, such as domestic partnership, which ironically may undermine support for marriage among heterosexuals. Someday conservatives will look back and wonder why they undermined marriage in an effort to keep homosexuals out." He believes same-sex marriage will ultimately strengthen heterosexual marriage, not weaken it.
     He argues that allowing same-sex couples to marry will be a plus for society as a whole. He permits readers to feel his pain about not being able to marry his partner and acknowledges the feelings of those who currently do not understand how two people of the same gender could have feelings that would lead to the desire to marry.
     According to Rauch, "The new conservative drive for a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage isn't just disingenuous about its goals and ill-conceived as public policy. It's a betrayal of two core conservative principles: the linkage of love to marriage and the American commitment to federalism." He argues for each of the 50 states taking on the gay marriage question independently, keeping marriage the domain of the states and avoiding federal action. He thinks it is important to allow each state to set its own timetable for addressing the issue. Rauch postulates that when the people in states that accept same-sex marriage first learn how little changes after a few years of legal gay marriage, people in other states will move toward acceptance of marriage for all.
     My suggestion: buy this book. If you have enough money, buy two or more. Read the book. Give one to your town's library. If your local school has an LGBT Straight alliance, give the advisor a copy. Pass on your copy to someone you know who might be on the fence about gay marriage. Hand one to your parents or aunt and uncle. Our own state representatives and senators should be at the head of our lists. Don't forget your U.S. Senators and Representative. Ask them to read the book and hand it on to someone else. I think if sufficient number of Vermont residents do this, the same-sex marriage debate that is surely coming in our state will be a whole lot more humane and less heated. If our federal representatives know Jonathan Rauch's arguments, they will be better able to discuss gay marriage with their colleagues in Washington.

Robert William Wolff lives and writes in Randolph. A member of the R.U.1.2? Queer Community Center board of directors, and of the Mountain Pride Media fundraising committee, Wolff is a scenery, lighting, performance facility designer and potter.