“Traditional Marriage” And Other Republican Fantasies

During the debate over the Respect for Marriage Act — a piece of Congressional legislation that would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and enshrine both Loving v. Virginia and Obergefell v. Hodges into federal law — Republicans have decided to bring back the old debate about same-sex marriage. On 11/28/2022, the entire editorial staff of National Review came together for an article called “Vote ‘No’ on the Respect for Marriage Act,” criticizing both it and our attitudes towards marriage more generally. The article begins by noting that Nancy Mace — a congresswoman who wrote an op-ed for Fox News supporting the legislation — is herself twice divorced and currently engaged:

Mace’s flippancy encapsulates a view of marriage that has become all too common. Marriage is no longer a means of harnessing the brute facts of biology into the service of children. It is purely a means to the end of the married parties’ happiness. It means whatever they want it to mean. Permanent, if you wish; exclusive, if you like; between people of the opposite sex, if you prefer.

Some things are true even if social conservatives say them, and as much as I don’t like to admit it, this is a very valid point. Ever since the introduction of no-fault divorce in California in the late 1960’s — something which quickly spread nationwide — marriage has become…