From Publishers Weekly
A nationally renowned attorney and director of Freedom to Marry, Wolfson hails the movement for marriage equality as "one of the first important civil rights campaigns of the 21st century" and grounds support for it within the logic of the long-established protest traditions in U.S. history: abolition, the women's suffrage movement and the racial equality movements of the 1950s and '60s. Unlike those who support gay marriage as a way to regulate what they see as the self-destructive sexual practices of homosexuals (David Brooks, Jonathan Rauch, Andrew Sullivan), Wolfson sidelines the issue of morality and discusses the right to marry as part of each citizen's inalienable claim to what the Declaration of Independence calls the "pursuit of happiness." Framing his argument strictly in terms of civil rights and grounding it in conventional definitions of the public significance of marriage, Wolfson is refreshing, smart, thorough and easy to follow. Most provocatively, Wolfson excises "gay marriage" from the debate entirely, writing that the term "impl[ies] that same-sex couples are asking for rights and privileges that married couples do not have, or for rights that are something lesser or different from what non-gay couples have. In fact, we don't want 'gay marriage,' we want marriage." For now, it is available in Boston.
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Review
Newsday a concise, logical primer...well worth reading...a book that supporters of gay marriage could give to friends and relatives who are undecided on the issue (or only mildly opposed)
Out Magazine Each chapter is an excellent and sensible essay responding to common questions same-sex couples get asked. Order a pile...and start handing them out to family, colleagues, and friends.
Gay City News Anybody interested in engaging in the current policy debates can find the information and arguments they will need in this compact, well-organized book that is both easy and pleasant to read.
Portland (OR) Mercury August 5, 2004 ...concise and efficient arguments...Thanks to this book, I now feel capable of having productive discussions about equal marriage.
The Oregonian August 1, 2004 ...this is one useful book. Armed with Wolfson's arguments, you could sell anyone with an IQ over room temperature on the wisdom and humanity of marriage equality.
Library Journal To his credit, the author addresses head-on religious objections to gay marriage....Well written and evenhanded....Recommended.
Publishers Weekly ...refreshing, smart, thorough, and easy to follow.
Kirkus Reviews ...thoughtful, reasonable, and eminently worthy.
"Seasoned Authors, Reasoned Arguments" - marriage books by Andrew Sullivan and Evan Wolfson,
Bay Window ...accessible to the layperson on both technical and emotional levels.
