Chatting with the Lady in the Grocery Store about Hernandez V. Robles, the New York Same-Sex Marriage Case

Abstract

Discussion of same-sex marriage tends to bring a wide array of topics to the mix - constitutional law, notions of morality, constructions of individual identities, construction of the cultural notion of "family" and "marriage," economic and emotional harms to individuals, child psychology, religion, and more. In this article, the recent New York case of Hernandez v. Robles, which found no constitutional right to same-sex marriage, is employed as a vehicle to give the issue the wide ranging discussion it merits. Dialogue then provides the medium of that discussion. While one party to this back and forth Socratic-type dialogue is a law professor, bound by the knowledge base and conventions of legal analysis and argumentation, the other participant is not. Toe-to-toe with the professor is a civilian, a lady in a grocery line. Not bound by the conventions of legal academics, she is free to move with common-sense reasoning and deep human empathy.

Keywords: Gay Marriage, Same-sex Marriage, Hernandez v. Robles, Right to Marry