Polyamory, Social Conservatism and the Same-Sex Marriage Debate in the US

Date01 June 2007
Published date01 June 2007
DOI10.1111/j.1467-9256.2007.00285.x
Subject MatterResearch Article
Research Article
Polyamory, Social Conservatism and the
Same-Sex Marriage Debate in the US
Edward Ashbee
Copenhagen Business School
The arguments against same-sex marriage used by the Christian right and other social conservatives
in the US have shifted in character. Drawing upon the work of Stanley Kurtz, they have increas-
ingly suggested that same-sex marriage will necessarily lead to the legal recognition of polygamous
and polyamorous relationships. From this perspective, the Supreme Court’s ruling in Lawrence v.
Texas (2003) had, by expanding notions of ‘sexual liberty’, paved the way for the legalisation and
recognition of all consenting adult relationships. The article suggests that the Christian right’s
increased use of consequentialist arguments rather than claims structured around biblical authority
or opposition to homosexuality per se is a form of adaptation to long-term shifts in the character
of US popular attitudes.
At the beginning of June 2006, the US Senate considered the Marriage Protection
Amendment (MPA). The measure would, if it had been passed and then ratif‌ied by
three-quarters of the states, have prohibited same-sex marriage and permitted ‘civil
unions’ only if they were established by a state legislature rather than a court ruling,
However, although the procedural motion which would have allowed the Senate to
vote on the Amendment itself was passed by a majority of one, the numbers backing
it (49) fell well short of the supermajority required either for the taking of a vote or
for the passage of an amendment under the terms of the US Constitution.1
Same-sex marriage will, nonetheless, remain on the political agenda. The MPA’s
backers have promised to bring the Amendment back to the f‌loor of both the Senate
and the House of Representatives. The organisations that collectively constitute the
contemporary Christian right will seek to ensure that those seeking the 2008
Republican presidential nomination are pledged to back its passage.2The issue will
also continue to shape state politics. By the end of 2006, 27 states had passed
referenda amending their constitutions so as to prohibit same-sex marriage and, in
some cases, forbid the legal recognition of arrangements between unmarried indi-
viduals ‘that intends to approximate the design, qualities, signif‌icance, or effects of
marriage’ (Commonwealth Coalition, 2006). And the Christian right is maintaining
its lobbying efforts across the remainder of the country.
Arguments
The arguments deployed by campaigners against same-sex marriage have, however,
shifted in terms of both tone and character. For much of the 1980s, Christian right
POLITICS: 2007 VOL 27(2), 101–107
© 2007 The Author.Journal compilation © 2007 Political Studies Association

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