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Equality Practice : Civil Unions and the Future of Gay Rights - William N. Eskridge, Jr.

Equality Practice

Civil Unions and the Future of Gay Rights

By: William N. Eskridge, Jr.

Paperback | 2 January 2002 | Edition Number 1

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When Vermont legalized civil unions for same-sex couples in April 2000 -- a landmark for gay rights--activists across the political spectrum were outraged. Critics on the right claimed the law would undermine morality. Critics on the left objected that the new category of "civil unions," distinct from marriage, would consign same-sex couples to a "separate but equal" status that would ultimately prove unequal.
Not so, argues America's leading scholar on gay rights and the law. In "Equality Practice," Yale law professor William Eskridge shows why lesbians and gays should give up on marriage and fight the more realistic (and more constitutionally viable) battle for civil unions.
When a country is divided by strongly held but opposing views, the best approach is incremental, Eskridge contends. Far from being a terrible compromise, the campaign for equality in practice rather than equality in principle will deliver what same-sex couples need: tax benefits, health insurance, property rights, and parental arrangements comparable to those of heterosexuals. This strategy, proven successful across Europe, acknowledges the uncomfortable fact that both tolerant and intolerant heterosexuals feel that marriage should be preserved for a man and a woman.
A bold challenge to the don't-ask-don't-tell philosophy of the 1990s, "Equality Practice" charts a practical path toward real equality for same-sex couples today.
Industry Reviews

"Equality Practice has the potnetial to move the discussion of same-sex marriage rights where it needs to go...when it does, Eskridge will have earned a place in the history of the greatest civil rights victory since 1964. Eskridge's book...has much to teach us about both the principles and the logistics of civil rights in the 21st century."
The Gay & Lesbian Review July/August2002."
"Eskridge's Equality Practice is a truly excellent book--informative, well written, and broad in scope and inquiry while maintaining a clear argument. It nicely integrates global, historical, and contemporary legal and political perspectives. It is hard to imagine the person who would not learn anything from reading it."
The Lawand Politics Book Review/July 2002."
"The most compelling and original analysis to date of the social meaning and politics of gay marriage. This book is, quite simply, the place to begin and return to as many of us try to understand and formulate a response to debates about gay marriage. A tour de force of scholarship and political reasonableness on a subject that divides virtually all Americans."
--StevenSeidman, Professor of Sociology, SUNY Albany."
"This lucid, literate and absorbing book guides readers through the conflict of communitarian and liberal ideals as they clash over the issues raised by same-sex unions, marriage and domestic life. Eskridge does a remarkable job presenting dense legal, ethical, political and religious arguments in a lively and thoroughly engaging manner. Equality Practice is an essential book, immensely relevant and thought provoking."
--UrvashiVaid, author of Virtual Equality: The Mainstreaming ofGay and Lesbian Liberation.."
"A rigorous, spirited, and ingenious defense of Vermont's novel civil union law."
-Robin West, Professor ofLaw, Georgetown University."
"A wonderful combination of social history, acute legal analysis, and powerful normative argument. His explanatory account-showing how liberal rights claims are and should be reconciled with communitarian values-is refreshingly original. He shows in the best way one can-by presenting a richly textured interpretive history-how these deep seated strands of our liberal democratic live are harmonized."
--John Ferejohn,Carolyn S.G. Munro Professor of Political Science,Stanford University."
"A rigorous, spirited, and ingenious defense of Vermont's novel civil union law."
-Robin West, Professor ofLaw, Georgetown University."
"Eskridge's communitarian approach is the only one I know that's capable of overcoming the objection that same-sex marriage would open the floodgates to relationships involving polygamy, incest, animals, and so on." -- The Gay and Lesbian Review.
"...Eskridge's Equality Practice is a truly excellent book-informative, well written, and broad in scope and inquiry while maintaining a clear argument. It nicely integrates global,historical and contemporary legal and political perspectives. It is hard to imagine the person who would not learn from reading it." -- The Law and Politics Book Review June 2002.
"Eskridge provides a thoroughly detailed history of same-sex marriages and civil unions in the US...does a phenomenal job of reiterating central themes throughout the book...All academic collections." -- K.M. Jamieson, Ashland University, for CHOICE

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