Equality for Same-Sex Couples: The Legal Recognition of Gay Partnerships in Europe and the United States
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During the past three decades, nations all over the world have been debating whether to allow same-sex couples to marry, or at least grant these couples various rights associated with marriage. In Equality for Same-Sex Couples, Yuval Merin presents the first comparative study of the legal regulation of same-sex partnerships worldwide, as well as a unique survey of the status of same-sex couples in Europe.Merin begins by providing a historical overview of the transformation of marriage from antiquity to the present. He then identifies and critically compares four principal models for the legal regulation and recognition of same-sex partnerships: civil marriage, registered partnership, domestic partnership, and cohabitation. Merin concludes that all of the models except civil marriage discriminate against gays and lesbians just as the "separate but equal" doctrine discriminated against African Americans; thus, so-called alternatives to marriage, even if they provide the same rights and benefits as marriage, are inherently unequal and therefore unconstitutional.
List of TablesAcknowledgments1Introduction12The Changing Institution of Marriage and the Exclusion of Same-Sex Couples63Registered Partnerships in the Nordic Countries614Same-Sex Partnerships in the Netherlands1115Recognition of Same-Sex Partnerships in Other European Countries1306The Cohabitation Model1607Same-Sex Partnerships in the United States1778Contrasts between the Models of Recognition and the Status of Same-Sex Partnerships in the United States and Northern Europe2379Domestic Partnership, Registered Partnership, and Marriage26310Alteratives to Marriage and the Doctrine of "Separate but Equal"27811The Feasibility of Opening Up Marriage to Same-Sex Couples30812Conclusion338App. AEuropean Same-Sex Legislation in Translation343App. BDevelopments in the United Kingdom, Israel, South Africa, and Brazil355Bibliography359Index385
