Justifying Same-Sex Marriage

Louise Richardson-Self’s Justifying Same-Sex Marriage is a compelling reminder that the arguments we make to justify same-sex marriage matter at least as much as the policy reforms those arguments help to achieve.... Richardson-Self’s book is both philosophically rigorous and politically engaged. Scholars interested in the limits and radical potentialities of human rights theories will find much of value here, as will activists engaged in LGBT human rights work around the world.... For readers who object to the assimilationist tenor of the marriage equality movement but recognize the practical benefits it stands to bring about for many queer people, Justifying Same-Sex Marriage will prove an immensely gratifying read. For readers more radically skeptical of the place of marriage equality in a movement for queer liberation, Justifying Same-Sex Marriage is sure to spark continued critical reflection and engagement. * Politics & Gender *
Does the ability of marriage equality to end discrimination against LGBTs not depend upon what the arguments for marriage equality are? Moving nimbly through legal developments, ethical theory and social philosophy, Richardson-Self cautions us that if those arguments depend upon the unique value of marriage as a form of intimate relationship they will only further marginalize LGBT people whose relationships do not conform heterosexual to norms. This is a carefully argued book and an important voice in the current discussion. -- Georgia Warnke, Professor of Political Science, University of California, Riverside
As edifying as it is provocative, Justifying Same-Sex Marriage presents a clear and concise philosophical analysis of the arguments for and against same-sex marriage. Richardson-Self considers an impressive range of questions central to the debate with great subtlety, insight, and depth. Her study includes key empirical research as well as a very sophisticated application of rights and justice discourses. She presents a robust and finely chiselled argument in favour of toleration and respect for difference. -- Moira Gatens, Challis Professor of Philosophy, University of Sydney.
Richardson-Self’s original approach focuses on our potential for differing, and fostering a diversity of relationships. Using a range of studies from Australia, the Netherlands, the US and elsewhere, the work develops a conceptual and legal basis for defending ‘the impossible’, and imagining a different future. It is a timely and significant work on an issue that should be of concern to us all. -- Marguerite La Caze, Associate Professor of Philosophy, University of Queensland.
Justifying Same-Sex Marriage leads the reader along a politically engaged and analytically rigorous path and in doing so, directs the debate concerning same-sex marriage in such a way that the author’s voice has already significantly changed that debate from within. As such the book reads like a whodunit in its tenacious unfolding and deconstruction of the various pros and cons articulated, not only  in feminist theories and queer theories, but also in legal theories and human rights discourses and their concomitant ideological and normalizing (i.e. hetero-centric) undercurrents. Richardson-Self eloquently claims that equal rights are certainly not the end of discrimination and stigmatization, but an indispensable step in processes of symbolic and global justice. -- Rosemarie Buikema, Chair Graduate Gender Programme, University of Utrecht