As Chris Edelson, our state legislative director, reminded us yesterday, less than ten years ago, Vermont became the first state to recognize civil unions. Now, in the last 24 hours, the Vermont Senate cleared the way for the state to move one step closer to joining Massachusetts and Connecticut in offering gay and lesbian couples the right to marry under state law. Meanwhile, pro-equality supporters continue their push to keep a civil unions bill moving forward in Hawaii. As we well know, the fight to win legal recognition for LGBT couples in the states is never easy – and right-wing conservatives fiercely attack LGBT families in each battleground in a misguided attempt to preserve their understanding of ‘traditional’ marriage.
In a recent New York Times op-ed, Brookings scholar Jonathan Rauch and co-author David Blankenhorn argue that linking federal civil unions to guarantees of religious freedom is a way to head off a long-term, scorched-earth debate over gay marriage and religious liberty.
On March 13, Rauch and Blankenhorn discussed their proposal at a forum moderated by Brookings Senior Fellow William Galston. Robin Wilson, editor of Same-Sex Marriage and Religious Liberty: Emerging Conflicts, discussed the church-state conflicts that same-sex unions may engender. Nathan Diament and HRC’s Legal DirectorLara Schwartz offered thoughts from religious and gay rights perspectives.
This event is part of the Governing Ideas series intended to broaden the discussion of governance issues through forums on timely and relevant books on history, culture, legal norms and practices, values and religion
Brookings has posted a transcript (PDF) and audio of the discussion here. Read the transcript below:
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