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An Ethical Argument To Restrict Domestic Partnerships To Same-Sex Couples, James M. Donovan

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

For purposes of this Essay, the preservation of marriage in its present superior status, albeit not necessarily in its present form, constitutes a good. Further, it is a very high good within the hierarchy of values. Within the arena of domestic relations, in fact, there is no higher good. Marriage is the ground from which all other relations in an ordered society spring.

Extremists aside, gays and lesbians desire the right to marry because we value the institution, and we will herein take this state of affairs to be "good." That cannot be overstated. We like marriage, we appreciate what …