The Alternative

Abstract

Feb. 2004 Vol. XXX No. 3 Dear Reader, This current issue of the Newsletter is on Sexual Partnership, Marriage and Family. The first essay concerns the decline of marriage and why fewer people choose to be married. The second essay is about the movement to open the benefits of marriage to gay people. The third essay tries to mediate this paradox. If marriage is less desirable for heterosexual people or is not living up to its promises, why are homosexual people so intent on joining a failing institution? The third essay argues that the focus on marriage is misplaced. The dividing line should not be between single and married but between parents and non-parents.