Awakening: How Gays and Lesbians Brought Marriage Equality to America

by Nathaniel Frank

The right of same-sex couples to marry provoked decades of intense conflict before it was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2015. Yet some of the most divisive contests shaping the quest for marriage equality occurred not on the culture-war front lines but within the ranks of LGBTQ advocates. Nathaniel Frank tells the dramatic story of how an idea that once seemed unfathomable--and for many gays and lesbians undesirable--became a legal and moral right in just half a century.

Awakening begins in the 1950s, when millions of gays and lesbians were afraid to come out, let alone fight for equality. Across the social upheavals of the next two decades, a gay rights movement emerged with the rising awareness of the equal dignity of same-sex love. A cadre of LGBTQ lawyers soon began to focus on legal recognition for same-sex couples, if not yet on marriage itself. It was only after being pushed by a small set of committed lawyers and grassroots activists that established movement groups created a successful strategy to win marriage in the courts.

Marriage equality proponents then had to win over members of their own LGBTQ community who declined to make marriage a priority, while seeking to rein in others who charged ahead heedless of their carefully laid plans. All the while, they had to fight against virulent antigay opponents and capture the American center by spreading the simple message that love is love, ultimately propelling the LGBTQ community--and America--immeasurably closer to justice.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, LGBT, American History, Politics

456 pages, Hardcover

Published April 24, 2017

Reviews

[Hadrian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Political and legal history of the long struggle towards same-sex marriage rights, 'ending' with the Obergefell v. Hodges decision in 2015, but noting the struggle goes on against prejudice and towards true equality before the law.

The volume begins in the mid-20th century, where the idea of marriage equality was a thought experiment. By that point, the idea of an LGBT+ community was only just emerging, and any political action was directed more towards stopping violent police raids or the repeal of sodomy laws. Marriage was then thought as too distant a goal to be feasible.

For the legal question of marriage, Frank first points to early scattered attempts by activists to obtain marriage licenses in New York in the 1970s. Same-sex marriage was outlawed in several states through the decade, and marriage again was on the back burner throughout the 1980s with the onset of the AIDS crisis. The main political issue then was survival.

The issue of marriage returned again with the election of Bill Clinton in 1992, and the surprise 1993 decision on Baehr v. Miike case by the Hawaii Supreme Court on the legality of same-sex marriage, which stated that the constitution did not include the right to same-sex marriage in the right to privacy, but that it the denial of marriage to same-sex couples was potentially a violation of the equal protection clause, and therefore was needed to be justified under strict scrutiny. But again there was a backlash of states rushing to ban same-sex marriage, culminating in the Defense of Marriage Act of 1996. Hawaii state voters approved a state constitutional amendment allowing the legislature to ban same-sex marriage in 1998.

In 2003, the Lawrence v. Texas decision struck down the remaining sodomy laws, and therefore homosexual acts were no longer illegal. The following year, Massachusetts became the first U.S. state to allow same-sex marriage, but again there was a backlash - one that was exploited by then-President George W. Bush in his re-election campaign, and was even mentioned in his State of the Union speech. But around 2008, something funny began to happen. More and more states, through court decisions and occasionally through referenda - began to expand same-sex marriage rights instead of taking them away. Civil unions and then equal marriage - through the New England states, Washington, California (for a time), and Iowa. By 2013 and 2014 - entire district courts were granting that right to multiple states at a time, and the decision was affirmed nationwide by 2015.

How did this happen? Frank frames his book through a very specific view of the political and legal arguments which advanced these court cases, and only from a limited selection of cultural and media landmarks. It was not as easy as showing up at a court and arguing for rights under the Equal Protection Clause - it was a long process of finding allies (for we are a minority, always have been) and organizing, of taking opportunities as they came, becoming more visible through 'coming out' and media appearances, enduring through political setbacks, and communicating by stealing the language used by social conservatives and repurposing it. Talk of 'moral decline' drove voters against them in 2004 - talk of strong families, loving bonds, and values was a major factor when the tide of public opinion turned the other way.

Awakening focuses more on the deliberate legal and political work which goes on behind the scenes of social movements, and while the book does have some gaps (e.g. the role of bisexuals or transgender people) I appreciate the detail in his retelling of it. The work goes on, not least with the specter of homophobia, the nearer goal of legal equality, and the needs of the transgender community. The dream lives on.

[Charlie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dry but an excellent reference source. Provides a thorough background, well-sourced and showcases the opinions of those involved as well as the legal battles. Not an interesting read though.

[Bob H · Rating 4 out of 5]

A retelling of the history of LGBT activism, well-researched and well-told, covering the period from the dark times of the 1950s to the present, to the end of the Obama years. This book reflects back on the period in light of marriage equality, though it does discuss the fact that the movement originally had it as a dim vision, at a time when getting free of the sodomy laws and police raids was more of a priority for attention and worry.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nathaniel Frank’s Awakening: How Gays and Lesbians Brought Marriage Equality to America is a well-researched, sophisticated chronological legal history of the fight for marriage equality. It examines the intricacies of legal debates, legislative changes, and pro-gay legal organisations such as Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, Gay Rights Litigators’ Roundtable, and Human Rights Campaign (HRC). Beginning in the early 1960s when marriage equality was considered a fringe campaign, even within the homophile movement, Frank traces how marriage became a key debate of the culture wars in the late twentieth, and early twenty-first, centuries. This book explores the conflicts within the gay rights movement, conservative resistance, and changing public attitudes towards marriage equality in the United States.

Frank untangles the complicated debates within the gay rights movement, detailing how activists both championed and criticised the idea that gay rights organisations should push for equal marriage. Although the book focuses on the activists and organisations that campaigned for marriage equality, it also acknowledges and discusses the critiques of marriage, particularly by lesbian feminists who resisted marriage which they viewed as a staid heterosexist union. Many gay activists, who insisted that there were more important campaigns than marriage equality, emphasised the need to educate society and gain support for alternative family models.

Full review available here https://www.baas.ac.uk/usso/book-revi...

Dry in parts as legal history is not my favourite kind of history to read but overall I think it is worth reading. Would recommend