Same-sex “marriage” and religious liberty: Life after Prop 8
Robin Fretwell Wilson, 14 Nexus: Chap. J. L. & Pol’y 101 (2009)
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This Essay argues that the moral clashes over same-sex relationships certainly exist but are not resolved by Prop 8–far from it. Tensions over same-sex relationships have erupted across the world and the United States as more and more governments have recognized not just same-sex marriage but civil unions and same-sex adoptions. Regardless of how the California Supreme Court rules on the challenges to Prop 8 now before it, California still allows civil unions and same-sex adoption and bans discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in places of public accommodation. As Part I shows, whatever happens with Proposition 8, Californians will have to navigate a rising tide of moral clashes over same-sex relationships. These moral clashes range from lawsuits over refusals to serve same-sex couples to cancelled social services contracts [FN8] to firings and resignations. Part II suggests that an equally deep moral divide emerged in our recent past over abortion and that our collective experience with navigating that divide can point the way to live-and-let-live solutions to the collisions over same-sex relationships.
