Making the Family Functional: The Case for Legalized Same-Sex Domestic Partnerships

Abstract

This essay argues that “the family” should be understood in functional terms: whatever functions as a family should have the legal status of a family. The author’s argument thus avoids two extreme positions. The first is the position of the hard-line “platonic” essentialists who, on grounds of nature, supernature, or cultural history, argue that a family unit must comprise heterosexual partners. The second is the position of the radical relativist, who argues that there are no essences whatsoever or that essences are purely arbitrary. Treating the family in functionalist terms, the author argues, would have positive consequences that would strengthen the social fabric.