family and relationships

Taking on the New Argument Against Gay Marriage

Articles, Public Philosophy / johncorvino

First published at 365gay.com on August 20, 2010 Ross Douthat’s recent New York Times op-ed [http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/09/opinion/09douthat.html?_r=1&ref=rossdouthat] against marriage equality is notable for many things, not least its frank rejection of some standard bad arguments against same-sex marriage. Douthat denies that marriage “has always been defined as the union of one man and one woman” and […]

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A Skeptic’s Faith

Articles, Public Philosophy / johncorvino

First published at 365gay.com on August 13, 2010 “The trouble with atheism,” my friend said with a smile, “is that you don’t get any holidays.” Sometimes even tired jokes can be insightful. The friend was a Catholic priest, speaking to me (an atheist) as I spent a week with him and several dozen other priests

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What I Learned at Gay Camp

Articles, Public Philosophy / johncorvino

First published at Between the Lines News on August 5, 2010 “Remind me, dear,” I said to my partner Mark on the way to the airport, “what I am absolutely, positively not doing again next year?” “You are not doing Camp next year,” he dutifully replied. We had repeated this dialogue many times in the

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Did the State Create Marriage?

Articles, Public Philosophy / johncorvino

First published at 365gay.com on July 16, 2010 Last week a U.S. District Court judge in Boston ruled portions of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) unconstitutional, prompting the usual cries of “judicial activism” from conservatives. Among the responses was a statement from Roman Catholic Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Kentucky, chair of the U.S.

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How Lingle Was Right

Articles, Public Philosophy / johncorvino

First published at 365gay.com on July 9, 2010 In vetoing Hawaii’s civil unions bill, Gov. Linda Lingle noted that the bill was “essentially marriage by another name.” She has a point. Of course I don’t agree with her decision, and I don’t buy her excuse that the issue was too important to be decided by

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Why Weddings?

Articles, Public Philosophy / johncorvino

First published at 365gay.com on July 2, 2010 I’m at a wedding for a same-sex couple, in the chapel anteroom before the service, and the grooms are sweating profusely. It’s not because they’re nervous. It’s because they’re wearing black wool tuxedos, it’s a humid 90-degree day, and like most old churches, this one isn’t air-conditioned.

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Happily Ever After

Articles, Public Philosophy / johncorvino

First published at 365gay.com on June 25, 2010 Three years ago I wrote a column “Young Love, Older Love” about a couple I called “Bob” and “Jim.” At the time I wrote [http://www.indegayforum.org/news/show/31405.html]: “My partner Mark and I introduced ‘Bob’ and ‘Jim’ at a dinner party at our place. Bob, 31, is recently out of

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Crush

Articles, Public Philosophy / johncorvino

First published at 365gay.com on June 18, 2010 “I think I’m in love,” my friend announces. “You knew him for five minutes,” I retort. We’re both exaggerating. My friend—let’s call him Bob—met a guy while traveling, and they hit it off. Literally they spent hours together, though much of that was in, um, “non-verbal” communication.

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The Gay Parenting Difference – and Why it Doesn’t Matter to Marriage

Articles, Public Philosophy / johncorvino

First published at 365gay.com on June 11, 2010 Opponents of marriage equality often refer to the “untested experiment” of same-sex parenting, asserting that we just don’t know how children in these families will fare over the long haul. They point to the fact that there has never been a significant long-term longitudinal study of such

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My Daddy’s Name is ‘Donor’

Articles, Public Philosophy / johncorvino

First published at 365gay.com on June 4, 2010 In our public debates over marriage equality, Glenn Stanton often holds up a picture, taken from a lesbian parenting website, of a small child wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with the words “My Daddy’s Name is Donor.” The line usually elicits a laugh from the audience, prompting Glenn

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