THE FAMILY: HOW FAR DOES IT EXTEND?

1. THE FAMILY: HOW FAR DOES IT EXTEND? SOC 3300 – Social Inequality Dr. Mary Cay Sengstock, Ph.D., C.C.S. Professor of Sociology Wayne State University m.sengstock@wayne.edu http://users.wowway.com/~marycay910

2. WHO MAKES UP A FAMILY? CAN SOCIETY PLACE LIMITS? What is a Family? How Does a Family Get Formed? Who Decides This? Is It Society? Is It the Government? Is it God? Is It the Family Members Themselves? Is It All of These? … Or None?

3. RANGE OF CROSS-CULTURALDEFINITIONS OF FAMILY Families Have Been Defined Very Broadly Across Societies – to Mention a Few: Extended – Nuclear Monogamous – Polygamous Arranged – Individually Chosen Matriarchal – Patriarchal Focus on Marriage – Focus on Child-Rearing Life-Long – Able to Be Modified

4. TRADITIONAL VIEW OF “FAMILY” IN JUDEO-CHRISTIAN SOCIETY • Based on Marriage • Monogamous: 1 Man to 1 Woman • With Lots of Leeway for MALE Extramarital Relations! • Arranged – Until Very Recently • Much Extended Family Involvement • Closely Tied to Religious Beliefs, Traditions • Both Church & Government Involved • Major Example of Institutional Interrelations! • Family Established by Society, Religion, Reinforced by Government Regulations

5. GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT& THE FAMILY • Gay Males/Lesbians Exist Throughout History • Openly Gay Rights – Origins: Late 20th Century • Stonewall Riots, Greenwich Village, NY, 6/28/1969 • Gays Resisted Unfair Treatment by Police • Gay Rights Issue: Heterosexual Marriage • By 1989, 86% of Gays Supported Gay Marriage • Pressure on Government to Open Marriage to Gays, Lesbians

6. CONTROVERSY AMONG GAYS:TO JOIN MARRIAGE – OR DESTROY IT? • Early Gay Rights Activists (Like Feminists): Sought to “Liberate” Gays, Women from Injustices of the Traditional Family • Later: Vigorous Pro-Family Movement in Gay/Lesbian Circles … • Enable Gays/Lesbians to Enjoy All the Rights of Traditional Marriage/Family

7. WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF MARRIAGE/FAMILY? • Taxes: Married People Get Tax Breaks • Insurance: Listed on Other’s Insurance Policy • Health Benefits: Get Spouse Health Benefits • Inheritance: Inherit from Partner by Right • Right to Care for Partner When Ill • Decision-Making: Make E.O. Health Decisions • Child Care Rights – Care for Partner’s Children • Adoption: Right to Adopt Children Together

8. WHAT CONSTITUTES A “GAY FAMILY”? • Family in Which Everyone Is Gay or Lesbian? • Family Headed by Gay or Lesbian Partners? • Can There Be a Single Parent Gay Family? • What About a Family in Which Someone Is Gay or Lesbian? These Would Include Families of: • Ronald Reagan – Phyllis Schlafly – Colin Powell – Newt Gingrich – Maybe Yours? – Mine? • Persons from Families Including Gay Members More Supportive of Gay Rights

9. ATTITUDES TOWARD GAY FAMILIES • Fundamentalists: • (Conservative Protestants; Catholics; Orthodox Jews): • We Must Love Them – but “Convert Them” • Some Believe in Ostracizing Them Until “Reform” • Training Programs to Assist in Reform • More Liberal Religions: • (Reform Jews, Traditional Christians): • May Perform Marriages, Commitment Ceremonies

10. GAY FAMILIES – HOW MANY? • How Many Children in U.S. Live With Gay/Lesbian Parents? • 1980s – Estimated: 6 - 14 Million • Born of Artificial Insemination … or • Children of Divorced Parents – Now Living With Gay/Lesbian Partnerships

11. $100,000 QUESTION • Which Is Better? • Have These Children In Stable Homes … with • Parents Who Love, Support & Care for Them ... or • Take Them Away & Put Them in Foster Homes? • What About Adoptions? Better to … • Let Them Be Adopted By Loving Gay Partners … or • Force Them to Remain in Foster Care? • NOTE: Adoptive Homes Usually at a Premium!

12. CHANGING MARRIAGE: PERSISTENT CHALLENGE • EX: Anti-Miscegenation Laws • Persistent Throughout the Southern States • 20 States Still Had Racial Restrictions in 1967 • Loving v. Virginia: Finally U.S. Supreme Court Declared Racial Restrictions on Marriage Unconstitutional • U.S. Social Institutions (Family, Religion, Politics) Became More Protective of Marriage

13. A NEW CONTROVERSYFOR GAY RIGHTS ACTIVISTS • What Is the Most Politically Useful Agenda? • Is the Fight for Gay Marriage Worth the Animosity it Very Likely Will Generate? • Should Gay Marriage Occupy Center Stage in Gay Rights? • Or Are Other Issues More Important? • EX: Work Force Rights, Military, Income, etc. • Or Are All Rights a “Seamless Web”?

14. BACKGROUND OF GAY MARRIAGE FIGHT • 1998: 21 States Had Anti-Sodomy Laws • 1970s: Gay Couples Sought to Use Loving v. Virginia to Marry • Baehr v. Lewin (Hawaii) Gay Marriage Suit • State of Hawaii Response: Marriage Only for Opposite Sex Partners • Hawaii Sup. Ct: State Must Show “Compelling State Interest” to Maintain Gender Bias

15. “STATE COMPELLING INTEREST” ARGUMENT • Protect Health, Welfare of Children, Others • Foster Procreation within Marital Context • Securing/Assuring Acceptance of Hawaii Marriages Elsewhere • Protect State of HI Against Foreseeable Impact of HI Same Sex Laws • Protect Civil Liberties of HI Citizens Against Effects of HI Same Sex Approval

16. OUTCOME OF HAWAIIANGAY MARRIAGE ISSUE • Hawaiian Legislature Redefined Marriage to Include Only Opposite Sex Couples … • Anticipating Court Rejection … • Hawaiian Electorate Passed Amendment to State Constitution (69%-28%) … • Establishing Legislative Right to Limit Marriage to Opposite Sex Couples • New Baehr v. Miike Adjudicated  • Supported State Right to Limit Marriage

17. GAY MARRIAGE RIGHT:NATIONAL LEVEL • Same Pattern Across Nation: • Gay Couples Sue to Marry  • Courts Rule in Favor  • Religious & Political Conservatives Introduce Amendments to State Constitutions • Major Example of Institutional Interaction: • Family – Religion – Government – Politics • To Maintain Existing Systems of Inequality

18. ARGUMENTS FOR LEGITIMIZINGGAY & LESBIAN MARRIAGES • Would Promote Democratic & Pluralistic Expansion of U.S. Marriage … e.g., • Meaning … Practice … Politics of Family Life • Help Supplant the “Destructive Sanctity” of “the Family” … • With Respect for Diverse & Vibrant Families • Not Just for Gay Families, But for All Families • Even Minimal Rights to Gay Relations Would Support Gay Teens, Prevent Suicide

19. ALTERNATIVE VIEW • Of Course, This Approach Would Not Be Acceptable to Those Who Believe In & Support the Existing, Traditional, Conservative View of “The Family” … i.e. • The Family As Male-Dominated, Structure … • Operating As Presumably Created By God … • With Females & Children Submissive to Males • 2 Diametrically Opposed Views of “Family”

20. POSSIBLE CONSEQUENCES OFLEGALIZING GAY MARRIAGES • Supreme Court Docket Would Be Busy for Years to Come! • Gay Marriage Laws in Some States Would Threaten Anti-Sodomy Laws in Others • Policing Marital Sex Difficult • Differential Prosecution of Same & Opposite Sex Couples Violates Equal Protection Clause • Challenges of State Barriers to Gay Couple Custody, Adoption, Fertility, Inheritance, etc.

21. ADVANTAGES OF LEGALIZINGGAY MARRIAGE Consider Possibility of Alternate Family Forms: • Dismantle Family’s Gender & Sexual Injustices • Friendship As Base for Marriage v. Sex? • Value Intimate Bonds Over Sexual Bonds • Consider New Options for Marriage & Kinship • Extended Family v. Nuclear Form? • If 2 Parent Family is Better Than Single Parent … Might 3 (or 4) Parent Be Better Than 2?

22. OTHER FORMS OF MARRIAGE,FAMILIES IN THE PAST • Extended Family Patterns (Ethnic Groups) • Fictive Kin – Common with African-Americans • Compadres, Commadres (Hispanics) • Are There Forms That Might Be More Effective, Given Strains of Modern Society? • “Functionally Extended Families” of Many Ethnic Groups – Allow Them Same Rights Now Accorded to Married Couples • Or Use Our Collective Imagination!