Contemporary Sociology: A Journal of Reviews | 2019
Awakening: How Gays and Lesbians Brought Marriage Equality to America
Abstract
With Awakening: How Gays and Lesbians Brought Marriage Equality to America, Nathaniel Frank has written the definitive history of the legalization of same-sex marriage in the United States. This exhaustive book draws on legal documents, media coverage, interviews with prominent lawyers and activists, and the already vast literature on the topic to tell the story of how an idea that was once anathema to gay liberation— marriage—was ultimately accepted as a top movement priority on its way to becoming the law of the land. As a work of legal and historical analysis, its primary objective is not causal explanation nor sociological theory-building; instead, it immerses the reader in the details of the episode to produce a comprehensive description of the people and events that played key roles in the legal skirmishes that defined the battle over same-sex marriage. To the extent that Frank imposes a narrative on the movement for same-sex marriage, it is the idea that ‘‘marriage equality ultimately emerged through a combination of ragtag lawsuits and uncoordinated actions by ordinary individuals and scrappy activists; incremental strategic work by gay and lesbian legal advocates; and the growing awareness—by not only straight people but gay people themselves—that same-sex love had a dignity no different from any other love’’ (p. 10). In reality, Frank’s story focuses more on the elite than the grassroots: his is the story of the handful of lawyer-activists, like Evan Wolfson and Mary Bonauto, who worked tirelessly and strategically over many decades to persuade Americans, straight and gay alike, of the importance of allowing lesbians and gays to wed. The book leaves readers with the distinct impression that the driving forces behind samesex marriage’s legalization were neither grassroots activists (as romantic progressives might imagine) nor ‘‘activist judges’’ (as conservatives alleged) but activist lawyers. The book therefore serves as an important case study of impact litigation and how elites can build social movements. For the most part, the book’s loosely chronological organization shows that even this narrative is only partially correct. In the book’s first hundred pages, for example, Frank shows that Andrew Sullivan’s landmark 1989 article in the New Republic advocating same-sex marriage was conceived more as a ‘‘thought experiment’’ (p. 78) than a serious proposal, and the first major lawsuit that put same-sex marriage on the political agenda (Baehr v. Lewin) was filed despite being rejected by the ACLU and Lambda Legal. In these and other ways, the story of same-sex marriage’s rise was characterized by accidents, spoiled plans, and uncontrollable forces. Frank also devotes some attention to the political battles that accompanied the legal maneuvering—for example, the 1996 debate over the Defense of Marriage Act and San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom’s 2004 decision to grant marriage licenses to samesex couples. Fittingly, over half the book concerns the events of 2008 to 2015—beginning with California’s Proposition 8 and the accompanying legal challenges and culminating with the Obergefell v. Hodges ruling that established a constitutional right to marriage. It contains lengthy discussions of legal strategy, descriptions of courtroom interactions, analyses of the arguments made by both sides, and considerations of how the legal arena interfaced with public opinion, institutional politics, and social movement activism. To his credit, Frank not only documents major cases like United States v. Windsor but also dozens of minor and forgotten cases, both victories and defeats, that were overshadowed. Because of his attention to both minor and major events, the book will serve as a valuable resource for future scholarship on same-sex marriage. If Awakening suffers from any critical flaw, it would be from the old adage that history is written by the victors. Certainly, Frank is justified in focusing on the winning side: that 538 Reviews