Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents ix
3. Abbreviations xi
4. Prologue 1
5. 1. “Homosexual Marriage?” The Stirrings of a New Idea 11
6. 2. “What Was Important Was That We Were a Household” Gay Marriages and the Domestic Partnership Alternative 37
7. 3. “We Are Criminals in the Eyes of the Law” Sodomy, AIDS, and New Alliances 59
8. 4. “A Tectonic Shift” Earthquake in Hawaii 77
9. 5. “The Very Foundations of Our Society Are in Danger” The Defense of Marriage 102
10. 6. “Here Come the Brides” Laying the Cornerstone in Massachusetts 126
11. 7. “Power to the People” Rogue Weddings and Ballot Initiatives 150
12. 8. “A Political Awakening” California’s Proposition 8 Changes the Game 173
13. 9. “Brick by Brick” Progress in the States 193
14. 10. “Make More Snowflakes and There Will Be an Avalanche”. Battles over Strategy Come to a Head 217
15. 11. “Without Any Rational Justification” Proposition 8 on Trial 233
16. 12. “A Risk Well Worth Taking” Edie Windsor and Winning Marriage in New York 248
17. 13. “The Nation Is Ready for It” A President and a Country Evolve 268
18. 14. “Love Survives Death” The Windsor Ruling and its Aftermath 293
19. 15. “The Responsibility to Right Fundamental Wrongs” A Circuit Split Sets Up a Showdown 314
20. 16. “It Is So Ordered” Marriage Equality Comes to All Fifty States 334
21. Epilogue 355
22. Notes 371
23. Acknowledgments 423
24. Illustration Credits 425
25. Index 427