Broadening the Family of God: Debating Same-sex Marriage and Queer Families in America

Since the United States Supreme Court overturned state sodomy statutes in its 2003 decision, Lawrence and Garner v. Texas, religious and political conservatives in America have feared that the decision could pave the way for legalization of same-sex marriage. No longer able to rely on the illegality of same-sex relationships to deny the legal protections of marriage to those relationships, conservatives have had to rely on broader discourses from which to argue against same-sex marriage. One particularly powerful discourse claims that marriage must be confined to heterosexual relationships in order to protect children. This paper explores the various discourses surrounding heterosexual marriage and families that are commonly employed in the ongoing debates about same-sex marriage in America today. First, the paper explores the ways in which psychoanalysis requires heterosexuality to articulate a theory of childhood development, comparing the dynamics of psychoanalytic discourse in both France and America. Second, the paper critiques common Christian theological claims of marriage, focusing on the theology and ethics of Karl Barth. Having explored psychological and theological claims, the paper ends by pointing to progressive Christian communities as sites from which alternative theologies and rituals are developing that illumine broader expressions of family.