Role Models

The Federalist Society hosted a debate about marriage equality with four law professors (two opposed, two for). Amy Wax argued that "we should be wary of extending marriage to a community with influential people who believe that sexual monogamy isn't that important." Dale Carpenter's response:

...there’s no reason to believe that heterosexual couples model their sexual lives on gay men. Against this, Professor Wax suggests that gays have some unusually large influence. For historical reasons alone, we should be wary and skeptical of claims that a small minority wields inordinate and insidious power.

Consider the numerical obstacle to such influence.

Male couples will be about 1% of all marriages. Some will commit to monogamy; others will be discreet about their non-monogamy. So we’re really talking about much less than 1% of marriages. That paltry number will undermine heterosexual morals? Undermine them more than our super-monogamous lesbian role models will reinforce them? Which is more likely: that the 0.5% of openly non-monogamous male couples will exert an irresistible gravitational pull on the morals of the 99.5%? Or that the 99.5% will put tremendous social pressure on the recalcitrant 0.5%?

My article on 'My Big Fat Straight Wedding' is here.