THE PAULA GORDON SHOW |
Conversation 1 Too few marriages are the problem in America, Jonathan Rauch, tells Paula Gordon and Bill Russell, not too many -- explaining why gay marriages are civilization's bedrock and good for everyone. |
Conversation 2 Marriage is never simply a private contract between 2 individuals, the community is always an invisible third partner Mr. Rauch says, and explains. It is because he treasures marriage and takes it very seriously, he says, that he wants individual States to be test beds for allowing gay marriages -- the State level is where America's "domestic" law has always been made -- instead of one state and 5 judges deciding this fundamental question for the whole country. |
Conversation 3 Civil union and marriage are not the same, Mr. Rauch says, and expands on the obligations that go with marriage. Creating alternatives is not good for marriage, he says forcefully and explains his position. Getting people to accept the notion of gay responsibility turns out to be harder than getting them to accept gay rights, he says, then champions a culture of responsibility where one can turn love into life. |
Conversation 4 Holding America to the promise of its Declaration of Independence, Mr. Rauch says nothing is more essential to the "pursuit of happiness" than the ability to choose someone, marry them and make a home and family with them. Part of America's maturation is to extend this opportunity to all, he believes. Marriage alone makes people kin, Mr. Rauch says, convinced that marriage is how you build a home. He expands on how unique he believes marriage is, certain that while single-parent households can be successful, marriage is irreplaceable for children. |
Conversation 5 Having since the 1980s written about marriage in general, Mr. Rauch applies what he learned to what he calls the trifecta of public policy: gay marriage -- a win-win-win for everyone: gay people, straight people and America itself. Mr. Rauch applauds real progress in American where the public is deeply engaged in a discussion of gay marriage, after many centuries of persecution and sweeping homosexuality under the rug. |
Conversation 6 Expanding the conversation to include homosexual women, Mr. Rauch concludes that gay marriage is not about sex or gender -- it's important because the human heart needs marriage. |
Acknowledgements Jonathan Rauch's consideration on the institution of marriage in present day America is interesting, whatever conclusions one may draw. We thank him for broadening this horizon for us all. |
Related Links: Gay Marriage: Why It Is Good for Gays, Good for Straights, and Good for America is published by Times Books/Henry Holt and Company. In Out for Good, Dudley Clendinen tells the story of the struggle for gay rights beginning with the 1969 Stonewall Rebellion.. Bishop John Shelby Spong (Ret.) has struggled for years within the Episcopal Church to assure equal treatment for all people. Janis Ian is a famous musician and gay. Both have deeply affected her life. Both Mary Ann Mason and Randall Kennedy are cited in this program. Essayist and author Richard Rodriguez is also gay. He characterizes Americans as “Brown” (the title of one of his books) and says that sex is at the heart of brown. Americans, he adds, are uncomfortable with the fact that people fall in love. |