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Title: Civil Wars: Gay Marriage in America by David Moats ISBN: 0-15-101017-X Publisher: Harcourt Pub. Date: 02 February, 2004 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.67 (3 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: "We began this lawsuit because it was about family."
Comment: This book profoundly affected me. This is an absolutely riveting, educational and incisive account of the battle to pass the nation's first civil union laws for gays and lesbians in Vermont. As a writer for the Rutland Herald, Moats writes with a consummate authority on the issue as he transforms his balanced and humane editorials into a book that almost reads like a work of fiction. From the outset we are introduced to the main protagonists who will play a major role in bringing the Vermont laws into being - the young hotshot lawyers who were only to well aware of the kinds of discrimination that gays faced; the young, gay man who went on to part of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and who had for years, fought for gay rights; and the three same sex couples who requested marriage licenses in their small Vermont towns, where they basically wanted to solidify their relationship and pronounce their love for each other.
The book raises many interesting issues: The Vermont Supreme Court refused to go the whole way on gay marriage and left the logistics of the issue largely to the Vermont Legislature in the hopes that it would increase and encourage the democratic process. Instead the legislature was left in a mess, "pulled by numerous crosscurrents: their own religious beliefs, the anger of their constituents and the views of the court." Also, the Freedom to Marry Taskforce that was set up in response to the need for gays to solidify their relationships was bitterly disappointed by the ruling. They were hoping for the court's decision to be full, unequivocal marriage rights. But they felt that for society to accept the fact of gay marriage or domestic partnership, "society would have to address the issue squarely, confronting and overcoming prejudices that stood as obstacles to equal rights."
Moats does a good job of placing the fight for civil union laws and gay marriage in the context of the history of the gay rights movement. He outlines the birth of the fledgling movement with the Stonewall riots of the late sixties, he talks about Harvey Milk and his plea, in the seventies, for every gay and lesbian in America to come out, and he also talks about the emergence of fundamentalist Christian movements such as the Moral Majority, who believed that any effort by the state to "recognize the legitimacy of homosexual relationships was a violation of God's word." The book presents the argument that, in general, fundamentalists fear social modernity, and Moats goes into quite a bit of historical depth explaining how this has come about. In the latter part of the twentieth century, sexual freedom and new stresses on the family had put "sex at the center of the battle between religious fundamentalists and the modern world."
Moats also describes how the terrible murder of Mathew Shepard galvanized the country, and made the quest to seek legitimacy for same-sex relationships even more urgent. The book also provides an important lesson in how democracy, the legislature, and the courts work together, and gives an interesting account on the type of "collective bargaining" that takes place between parliamentarians when such issues are bought forward. Also interesting is how the lawyers for the plaintiffs actually argued their case before the courts - they needed to justify that the case had a "heightened scrutiny," which would in turn place a heavy burden on the state to show a compelling reason for denial of marriage rights. Civil Wars is a terrific book that gives a very balanced and often heart-felt view of the issues. Moats never shies away from describing the human cost of the struggle for gay and lesbian rights; through this book, he is really showing the overwhelming passion and commitment of those select group of people who are now involved in the wider struggle. Mike Leonard March 04.
Rating: 4
Summary: Anger and emotion unleashed in Vermont
Comment: This is a well-written narrative of the process by which civil unions became law in Vermont in 2000. The bulk of the book focuses on how the bill made it through both houses of Vermont's legislature. There is not much suspense here; we know how it all turned out. But Moats does a good job of bringing the issue to life, and he illustrates just how much anger and emotion the debate unleashed among the people of Vermont. And Moats makes his position clear: he is in favor of civil unions.
I learned something from this book. I'd always believed, perhaps naively, that you could convince people to change their minds merely by communicating your views and backing those views up with clear, irrefutable logic. Once someone heard your explanation, they couldn't possibly be unmoved. And yet that didn't work in Vermont. No matter how much logic and reason the civil-union supporters used, many people still didn't change their minds. And yet the legislature passed the bill anyway. So I've learned that you don't necessarily need to convince everyone of your views, and, more than that, sometimes you just can't. But as long as you can convince *enough* people, you can achieve the results you hope for.
Rating: 5
Summary: Another Issue Whose Time Has Come?
Comment: David Moats is the editorial page editor of the "Rutland Herald" who won a Pulitzer Prize for his editorials in support of gay marriage. "Civil Wars," his book on the subject, reads more like a novel in the thriller genre than a nonfictional account of the judicial and legislative battle over same-sex unions which occurred in the state of Vermont in 2000. In that year the "Green Mountain State" became the first state to grant gay and lesbian couples the right to join in civil unions. In the Prologue to his book, Moats asks the question: "How did such a thing happen in Vermont?" The rest of the book is devoted to providing an answer.
On Monday, December 20, 1999, the Vermont Supreme Court rendered its decision in a case brought before it over a year previously. It was a controversial case where the Court was being urged to establish that gay and lesbian couples had the right to marry. The opinion issued by the Court, however, was both a win and a loss for the proponents of gay marriage. While recognizing that the issue was secular rather than religious and that denying marriage to gays violated the Common Benefits Clause of the Vermont Constitution, the Court ruled that the final disposition of the matter should rest with the state legislature. In a surprising move, the Court had moved the controversy from the judicial realm to the political arena. As a result a new and even more vigorous conflict would ensue.
The narrative that unfolds has all the elements of a good drama: there is joy and sadness, there are high points and lowpoints, there are wins and losses, there are heroes, victims, and the occasional cad, whose behavior at times borders on the incomprehensible. The reader will first meet Beth Robinson, the determined attorney who argued the case before the Supreme Court, and then hear the personal stories of the plaintiffs who were courageous enough to come forward and attach their names to the legal action. The reader will also meet many members of the Vermont legislature, those that supported the move toward recognition of same-sex unions and those that opposed it. Their individual stories add a special and telling ingredient to the narrative as a whole. And, in what must be one of the most stirring parts of the book, the author lets the citizens of Vermont speak for themselves, those in favor of the change and those against it.
In my personal opinion, one of the highlights of the book occurs in Chapter Nine. It is really unrelated to the historical events which unfolded during the time the Vermont legislature was dealing with the gay marriage issue, but I think it is an enlightening sidebar to this controversial matter. Sharon Underwood, mother of a gay son, wrote an impassioned opinion piece which appeared in a local newspaper and expressed her anger, as Moats says, "about the hypocrisy and self-righteousness of those who had adopted a moral tone to condemn and attack their neighbors." In her op-ed, Ms. Underwood briefly relates some of the horrific things which happened to her son beginning at the age of six, simply because he was perceived to be "different." Her two-page story alone is worth the price of the book.
Moats is clearly aware of one of the most problematic aspects of the gay marriage issue. He points out early on that "In confronting the issue of gay marriage, the nation confronts a paradox of liberal democracy. The dignity of the individual was a moral value that rested on religious and philosophical traditions prevailing in eighteenth-century Britain and its colonies. Yet liberal democracy lifts that value into the secular realm, where it serves as the premise for equality and justice before the law."
This is an important point. Those who oppose any change in the marriage laws because of the Judeo-Christian tradition which they claim forms the foundation of our society fail to see that, while it is true that many of our moral beliefs are founded on Christian principles, our political framework and the theories underlying it are not. The political foundation of our society is firmly set on ideas derived from the secular, "pagan" cultures of ancient Greece and Rome. Our Republic must in the end be secular and inclusive, and our representative democracy must be fair and just to all citizens. And this may mean a recognition of the fundamental right to choose a marriage partner without interference from the state.
Is there anything missing in Moats' telling of the events he relates? I can think of at least two things I wished he would have explained more in detail but, in fairness to him, he may have considered them irrelevant to the issue at hand or he may have been unable to pursue them. One, I would have liked more information about the rationale of the Catholic legislators who, in apparent defiance of their bishop's directive, supported legalization of gay marriage. Secondly, I would have liked to know why Neil Randall, a Libertarian legislator, would join with Nancy Sheltra, leader of the House conservatives, to derail a domestic partnership bill and push for a constitutional amendment forbidding both gay marriage and domestic partnership. Libertarians are well-known for generally opposing state intervention in strictly personal matters. But, as any student of politics knows, politics makes for strange bedfellows.
In conclusion, this book is definitely not a one-sided partisan report on gay marriage. Although the author is clearly sympathetic to the legalization of gay marriage, he is eminently fair in describing both sides of the issue and in his evaluation of the characters on both sides of the matter. I would recommend his book to all those interested in a fair and balanced discussion of same-sex unions, regardless of the side one currently takes on this very divisive issue, which is sure to claim the attention of the public for some time to come.
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Title: Same-Sex Marriage and the Constitution by Evan Gerstmann ISBN: 0521009529 Publisher: Cambridge University Press Pub. Date: 18 August, 2003 List Price(USD): $22.00 |
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Title: The Working Poor : Invisible in America by DAVID K. SHIPLER ISBN: 0375408908 Publisher: Knopf Pub. Date: 03 February, 2004 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: Same-Sex Marriage: Pro and Con : A Reader by Andrew Sullivan ISBN: 0679776370 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 25 March, 1997 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Gay Marriage : Why It Is Good for Gays, Good for Straights, and Good for America by Jonathan Rauch ISBN: 0805076336 Publisher: Times Books Pub. Date: 07 April, 2004 List Price(USD): $22.00 |
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Title: Homosexuality and Civilization : by Louis Crompton ISBN: 067401197X Publisher: Belknap Pr Pub. Date: October, 2003 List Price(USD): $35.00 |
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