An Argument Against Gay Marriage You’ve Never Heard Before

I'm not so convinced that Jordan Wolf has advanced an argument for gay marriage that "you've never heard before." Indeed, I think you'd find his argument underwriting much of the mainstream GLBT lobbying for marriage. The argument, in short, goes something like this: opening the franchise to committed, loving, monogamous gays would strengthen a waning institution.  

Wolf is right. Numbers support the contention that marriage and the nuclear family aren't what they used to be, and perceptions (he mentions "hookup culture," specifically) suggest that straight monogamy is out. But when you look at gay marriage this way it doesn't seem like such a radical, transformative demand. Instead, it looks a lot more like an assimilationist one that might shore up exactly the straight family values that have historically marginalized gays and amplified homophobia.

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