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Marriage: Legal Protections for Families and Children

  • Date
  • February 2004
  • Author
  • Samuel Slater

This policy brief was written in the wake of a landmark November 2003 Massachusetts Supreme Court ruling, in Goodrich v. Department of Public Health, that the state must extend full marriage rights to same-sex couples. The decision prompted a contentious debate across the United States over same-sex marriage, catapulting it to the top level of polarizing cultural issues during a presidential election year.

Marriage: Legal Protections for Families and Children offers a reasoned, sober analysis of the likely benefits to U.S. society as a whole that would accrue from the legalization of same-sex marriage. Among its important conclusions is that legal protection of partner relationships can increase a couple's ability to care for each other and provides families security and peace of mind, creating a more secure environment for raising children.

The policy brief was prepared by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF), an OSI grantee. Additional information about the organization, including extensive resources related to the ongoing debate over same-sex marriage, is available on its website, www.thetaskforce.org.

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