Cover -- Half-title -- Title -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Preface to the Second Edition -- Part I The Challenge of Same-Sex Marriage -- 1 Introduction -- Moving Past "Gay Rights" -- The Importance of the Right to Marry -- The Indispensability of "Rights Talk" to a Legally Equal Society -- Advocacy and Objectivity -- The Book's Organization -- 2 Reason and Prejudice: Is the Heterosexual Monopoly on Marriage Rational? -- The Three-Tier Framework of Equal Protection -- Definition, Tradition, and Religion -- Natural Law -- Promoting an Optimal Environment for Child Rearing -- The "Endorsement" Question -- Conclusion -- 3 Looking for Stricter Scrutiny: Sexism, Heterosexism, and Class-Based Equal Protection -- The Breakthrough Case: Baehr v. Lewin -- The Problems with the Loving Analogy -- Heterosexism and Patriarchy -- Gays and Lesbians as a "Suspect Class" -- Conclusion -- Part II Marriage as a Fundamental Constitutional Right -- 4 The Fundamental Right to Marry -- Fundamental Rights -- Marriage as a Fundamental Right -- Conclusion -- 5 Same-Sex Marriage and the Fundamental Right to Marry -- The Right to Marry as a Primary Right -- Children as the Sine Qua Non of Marriage -- Marriage as Dual Gendered by Definition -- Of Nature and Intuition -- Polygamy and the Fundamental Right to Marry -- Incest and the Fundamental Right to Marry -- Conclusion -- Part III Rights and Equality -- 6 Should Courts Create New Rights? -- Defining Fundamental Rights and Their Origins -- The Case for Equal Protection -- Equal Protection and the Necessity of Substantive Rights -- The Debate over Substantive Rights -- 7 Identifying Fundamental Rights -- Fundamental Rights and the Problem of Overly Vague Standards -- Four Standards for a Pragmatic Approach to Equal Protection -- Precedent -- Connection to Other Rights.

Considerations of "Monopoly" -- The Political Question Doctrine -- Conclusion -- Part IV Rights in a Democratic Society -- 8 Democracy, Neutrality, and Consistency of Principle -- The Constitution and the Protection of Individuals and Minorities -- The Courts, Consistency, and Principle -- Objections to the Role of Principle in the Courts -- Levels of Generality -- Conclusion -- 9 Principles and Practicalities -- Conclusion -- Bibliography -- Index.