The debate over marriage equality for same-sex couples rages across the country. Beyond (Straight and Gay) Marriage boldly moves the discussion forward by focusing on the larger, more fundamental issue of marriage and the law. The root problem, asserts law professor and LGBT rights activist Nancy Polikoff, is that marriage is a bright dividing line between those relationships that legally matter and those that don’t. A woman married to a man for nine months is entitled to Social Security survivor’s benefits when he dies; a woman living for nineteen years with a man or woman to whom she is not married receives nothing.

Polikoff reframes the debate by arguing that all family relationships and households need the economic stability and emotional peace of mind that now extend only to married couples. Unmarried couples of any sexual orientation, single-parent households, extended family units, and myriad other familial configurations need recognition and protection to meet the concerns they all share: building and sustaining economic and emotional interdependence, and nurturing the next generation.

Couples should have the choice to marry based on the spiritual, cultural, or religious meaning of marriage in their lives, asserts Polikoff. While marriage equality for same-sex couples is a civil rights victory, she contends that no one should have to marry in order to reap specific and unique legal results.

A persuasive argument that married couples should not receive special rights denied to other families, Polikoff shows how the law can value all families, and why it must.

Read the Introduction to Beyond (Straight and Gay) Marriage

Praise

"A much-needed intervention in the contemporary debate about marriage and family. Polikoff’s argument is provocative, illuminating, and original."

—John D’Emilio, author of Lost Prophet: The Life and Times of Bayard Rustin

 

"Polikoff mobilizes an impressive array of legal history and contemporary court cases to show how marriage, whether same-sex or heterosexual, has ceased to be the only place where people incur long-term obligations. She argues vigorously that our society needs to find new ways of determining when legally-enforceable responsibilities and entitlements have accrued in interpersonal relationships."

—Stephanie Coontz, author, Marriage, A History: How Love Conquered Marriage

 

“This book really matters. It is brilliant and thoughtful, not simply about a set of laws, but as a manifesto to transform the way we understand, recognize and respect the reality of our diverse and complex family compositions. Polikoff grounds her arguments in the 35 year history of social change activism in this country to construct a passionate and nuanced argument for expanding our same sex marriage activism to include all of the ways people love, form families and build community.”

—Amber Hollibaugh, Senior Strategist, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, and author of My Dangerous Desires: A Queer Girl Dreaming her Way Home

 

“Passionate but completely grounded in reality, Polikoff challenges LGBT rights advocates to see beyond gay equality arguments and question the fundamental fairness of limiting family recognition based on marriage, gay or straight. It is a powerful call for social justice.”

—Nan D. Hunter, founder of the American Civil Liberties Union Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Project and Professor of Law, Brooklyn Law School

 

"A provocative and perspicuous intervention in one of the most devilish recent debates in U.S. law and politics…In a principled yet pragmatic analysis, Polikoff mounts a compelling case against the continued grip of ‘conjugalism’ on our family law and policy. Beyond (Straight and Gay) Marriage challenges us to imagine and build a political consensus that respects the realities of contemporary American kinship and family life, in all its complexity.”

—Kendall Thomas, Nash Professor of Law, Columbia University

 

“Polikoff wades through legislation and legalese with style and substance, plus a touch of flair. Impeccably researched, the book offers an evocative read that takes in the full breadth of the issues affecting marriages and avoids pedantry while remaining persuasive.”

—Publishers Weekly Review, October 29, 2007

 

 

“Ultimately, marriage isn’t the right dividing line, Polikoff maintains in this provocative argument for valuing all kinds of family.”

— Whitney Scott, Booklist Review, December 15, 2007

 

About the Author

Nancy Polikoff is a Professor of Law at American University Washington College of Law, where she teaches Sexuality and the Law and has taught Family Law for more than 20 years. Previously, she supervised the family law programs of the Women’s Legal Defense Fund, and before that she practiced law as part of a feminist law collective, where she specialized in family law. For more than 30 years, she has been writing about, speaking about, and litigating cases involving lesbian and gay families.

Professor Polikoff’s articles have appeared in many law journals, including those at University of Chicago, Georgetown, Harvard, Hastings, and Hofstra. Her history of the development of the law affecting lesbian and gay parenting appears as a chapter in the 2000 book, Creating Change: Sexuality, Public Policy, and Civil Rights, edited by John D’Emilio, William Turner, and Urvashi Vaid. Professor Polikoff was successful appellate counsel in the case that the established the right of lesbian and gay couples to jointly adopt children in the District of Columbia, and in a Maryland case overturning a visitation order prohibiting any contact between a gay noncustodial father’s children and his life partner. 

View upcoming Nancy Polikoff Events, including an appearance at the NGLTF Creating Change Conference in Ann Arbor, MI.

Visit Nancy Polikoff’s Website, beyondstraightandgaymarriage.com.

Can a high school principal make you cover up your “gay pride” T-shirt? What can you do if school officials say your gay/straight alliance can’t meet on school grounds?
If you tell your doctor you’re gay, does he or she have to share that information with your parents?
Out Law answers these questions and others, laying out the basics about laws that impact LGBT youth and telling you what your rights are, how to exercise them, and when and where to seek help.

Praise and Reviews

“Keen’s book is brilliant in its concise and well-researched treatment of complex legal issues for LGBT people. Engaging and accessible, it offers a unique and smart focus on the rights of young gay people in each facet of their lives.”

—Urvashi Vaid, author of Virtual Equality and Executive Director of the Arcus Foundation

 

“Jam-packed with information—history, obstacles, and remedies—Out Law is a terrific legal guide for LGBT kids looking to achieve equal rights.” 

—Nancy Garden, recipient of lifetime achievement award by the American Library Association and author of Annie on My Mind

 

“Keen’s book is must reading for all gay youth and those who care about them.”

—Kevin M. Cathcart, executive director, Lambda Legal

“Keen delivers a sharp and coherent analysis of legal issues affecting LGBT kids today . . . Geared to LGBT teenagers, this important, eye-opening book is also an essential read for any parent with a gay child.”

—Publisher’s Weekly Review, April 23, 2007  

 

“Established journalist Keen has written an indispensable introduction to the legal rights of LGBT youth. Though she’s not trained in the law, Keen has clearly done her research, and the result is a systematic and comprehensive survey that belongs in every library.”

—Booklist Review, May 1, 2007

 

“Lisa Keen has created an important, vibrant book that will serve as both a guide for LBGT youth looking to make sure they know their legal rights, and as an historical document for future generations to mark the community’s growth.”

—Between the Lines Review, June 15, 2007

 

“From a legal perspective, she hits the nail dead on its head in providing very accurate legal advice while making sure to point out the obvious loopholes . . . If you’re looking for a solid resource on the law for LGBT youth, consider checking out Out Law. This may be a new survival guide. Knowledge is half the battle, and Out Law certainly presents ways to be able to utilize the law to fight bullying and discrimination.”

—Edge Boston Review, June 19, 2007 (Read Full Review)

 

“Keen addresses youth of high school and college age with respect for their intelligence and experiences, and provides suggestions for appropriate use of channels likely to be available to those who are somewhat, although not yet completely, independent as they emerge as young adults.”

—Voice of Youth Advocates Review, August 1, 2007

Download Chapter One 

Read chapter one by clicking here. 

About the Author

For nearly twenty years, Lisa Keen was the executive editor of The Washington Blade – a national LGBT newspaper that covers news and politics. She now works as freelance correspondent for The Boston Globe, Sirius Radio News, and gay newspapers around the country. Keen is co-author of Strangers to the Law: Gay People on Trial, about a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case. She won the Silver Gavel Award from the American Bar Association for her coverage of anti-gay initiatives and court challenges to them, and Best News Feature Award from the Society of Professional Journalists in Washington, D.C. for a ground-breaking series from diagnosis to death of one of the city’s first AIDS victims. She lives in Wellesley, Massachusetts.

From starting a gay-straight alliance in your high school to effectively lobbying your state representative face-to-face, Come Out and Win explains in a clear and user-friendly manner how to organize and become politically active. It will educate, engage, and agitate LGBT people and allies of all ages to become involved in the political movement to win full equality under the law and sexual/gender freedom. Sue Hyde tells the history of gay liberation but also offers firsthand guidance and practical advice for building organizations and taking concrete action to eradicate homophobia.

Praise and Reviews

“Sue Hyde’s book answers the plaint, ‘What are we gonna do?’  So quit whining, get her book, pick a chapter, do the workbook.  Repeat.  Create change.  Badges not included.”
—Kate Clinton, humorist and author of What the L?

 

 “Sue Hyde has demonstrated in her own life that winning equal rights for LGBT people is not a spectator sport.  Now she has taken this one step further and provided a manual for other LGBT people so that they can join her in this effort.”
—Congressman Barney Frank

 

“Unique and invaluable, this is the essential guide for anyone wanting to advance equal rights for LGBT people.”
—Matt Foreman, Executive Director National Gay and Lesbian Task Force

 

“An invitation to change the world can’t be taken lightly, unless it’s delivered with the sure and light touch of an engaging, dedicated organizer like Sue Hyde.  Turn the pages and be the new world.”
—Jewelle Gomez, author and activist

 

 “In this richly detailed and well-organized book, she offers a stirring course in gay activism with step-by-step-how-to-advice . . . Designed to outrage, inspire, encourage and anger readers, and give them the tools to spring into action, this is an indispensable resource for anyone looking for a little guidance and a little push.”

—Publisher’s Weekly Review, April 23, 2007

 

“Hyde presents activism as an organized method for gaining self-acceptance as well as societal and political change . . . This book fills a niche that heretofore has lacked a sophisticated yet accessible treatment of the topic . . . This book has staying power for the reader and as a library collection staple.”

—Voice of Youth Advocates Review, August 1, 2007

 

Excerpt from Chapter One

Download chapter one of Come Out and Win 

About the Author

Sue Hyde has been an activist organizing around LGBT issues for over 25 years.  She served as news editor at Gay Community News in Boston from 1983 to 1985, and was a leader in the community-based campaign to defend lesbian and gay families in Massachusetts when state lawmakers banned the placement of foster children with lesbian and gay parents.  Since 1986, Hyde has served on the staff of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, helping to lead the fights to repeal sodomy laws, to rescind the military’s ban on openly lesbian, gay and bisexual service members, and to pass non-discrimination laws in cities and states.  Hyde has been director of The Task Force’s Creating Change Conference, the LGBT movement’s activist training conference, for eight years.  She received the prestigious Stonewall Award in 2002, recognizing her for a lifetime of dedication and service to the social movement for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender freedom, justice and equality.  Hyde lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts with her girlfriend and two children.