An excellent online chat, on the Washington Post site. (Rauch is the author of Gay Marriage : Why It Is Good for Gays, Good for Straights, and Good for America. I’ve always very much liked reading Rauch’s work, largely because he’s thoughtful and sensible enough to acknowledge the strong points on the other side while still making eloquent and persuasive arguments on his own. In fact, his arguments are more persuasive precisely because he doesn’t feel obligated to disagree with the other side on everything.
He is right to acknowledge that “[gay marriage] redefines the boundaries of marriage. It’s foolish to pretend otherwise. Marriage has been exclusively man-woman throughout 3000+ years of western civilization.” If he is correct that “[t]here’s a fair amount of research [on whether same-sex couples are likely to be as good parents as opposite-sex couples], but it’s a long way from definitive” — and I have no reason to doubt his knowledge on the subject — then he is right to acknowledge this. He is also right, I think, to suggest that this matter should be resolved state by state, rather than by the federal courts. And I think that acknowledging these points makes his arguments in favor of allowing same-sex marriage even stronger.
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