Mark Scarberry writes:
I appreciate Perry's thoughtful comments. Near the end he says, "I
don't think that religious objectors to same-sex marriage are entitled to
any sort of veto in the contest over the meaning of marriage." If they
aren't entitled to a veto, are they nevertheless (anagrammatically speaking)
entitled to a vote?
To put it another way, if their interests are legitimate, are they entitled
to put those interests forward and see whether the democratic process
results in protection of those interests?
For what it's worth, I do think that religious folk are legitimate
stakeholders in the debate over same-sex marriage. That gives them both a
vote and a voice.
On the other hand, I don't think that this necessarily means that
only the "democratic process" should resolve this debate. Sometimes the
Constitution overrides even legitimate voices. (Do I think there's a
constitutional right to same-sex marriage? I'm still struggling with that
question. But I certainly don't think that the question is out of bounds,
or that courts that decide in favor of such a right are crossing some
fundamental red line.)
On the third hand (there's usually a third hand), I also think
that the legitimate religious stake in the definition of marriage renders
both coherent (see my essay, The Intersecting Worlds of Religious and
Secular Marriage, in Law and Religion: Current Legal Issues, Vol. 4, at 385
(Richard O'Dair & Andrew Lewis, eds., Oxford University Press 2001)) and
normatively very tempting a compromise solution such as Vermont-style
(i.e., including all the secular legal incidents of marriage) civil unions.
Perry
*******************************************************
Perry Dane
Professor of Law
Rutgers University
School of Law -- Camden
217 North Fifth Street
Camden, NJ 08102
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
www.camlaw.rutgers.edu/bio/925/
Work: (856) 225-6004
Fax: (856) 969-7924
Home: (610) 896-5702
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