Intro -- Equality, Dignity, and Same-Sex Marriage -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- List of Cases -- Introduction -- Rights and disagreements -- Equality, human dignity and rights -- Equality, human dignity and the disagreement on same-sex marriage -- The incremental development and the changing rights claims -- An overview -- 1. Same-Sex Marriage: History, Law, and Disagreements -- Same-sex marriage: a world survey -- The European pioneer: Denmark -- From Denmark to Nordic nations -- The first same-sex marriage: the Netherlands -- Belgium joins the Netherlands -- Spain follows -- Canada: same-sex marriage arrives in North America -- United States: a fragmented picture and an uncertain future -- United Kingdom: an inclusive model of Civil Partnership -- South Africa: same-sex marriage arrives in Africa -- Asia-Pacific and beyond: developments continue -- A sprawling phenomenon -- The incremental development and the evolving rights claim -- Same-sex marriage and civil union: the same but different? -- Pragmatic liberalism and full equality -- Same-sex marriage under international law -- The United Nations Human Rights Committee -- The European Court of Human Rights -- Why can same-sex marriage be morally controversial? -- A normative inquiry into same-sex marriage -- The proponent's case for same-sex marriage -- The opponent's case against same-sex marriage -- Conclusion -- 2. The Classic Concept of Equality and the Case for Same-Sex Marriage -- Equality and same-sex marriage -- The meaning of equality -- The problem of equality rhetoric -- Why formal equality? -- Why not formal equality? -- The paradox of formal equality: leveling up or down? -- Same-sex marriage: leveling up or down? -- Formal equality and equal rights for gays and lesbians -- What is being compared? -- "Conduct-based" equality.

"Class-based" equality -- Who is being compared? -- Why equal? -- Does "treatment as equals" live up to the commitment to equality? -- Analysis: does formal equality sustain the claim for same-sex marriage? -- True equality: deconstructing marriage? -- Is equality possible? -- Conclusion -- 3. Human Dignity and Same-Sex Marriage -- Human dignity in international law and constitutional law -- The meaning of human dignity -- The historical and philosophical roots of human dignity -- Dignity: descriptive or normative? -- Two concepts of rights -- Dignity and intrinsic worth -- Dignity and respect -- Dignity as a multi-layered concept -- Dignity in context -- Some reflections on dignity -- Dignity and same-sex marriage -- Conclusion -- 4. Human Dignity and its Role in the Equality Jurisprudence -- The Canadian way: human dignity and substantive equality -- Law v Canada: the norm-setting case -- Dignity and its critics -- The reasonable person test -- A divided court: many tales of dignity -- M v H: impairing vs enhancing dignity -- Lavoie v Canada: the court split four ways -- Gosselin v Quebec: who is more disadvantaged? -- Nova Scotia v Walsh: the capriciousness of dignity impairment -- What is left for human dignity? -- Jurisprudential transplant: dignity and equality in South Africa -- President of the Republic of South Africa & Another v Hugo: where it all begins -- Harksen v Lane NO & Others: a jurisprudential Legoland? -- Is dignity still worth defending? -- Dignity: promises and limitations -- Nurturing a culture of reason in a deliberative society -- Deliberative democracy in resolving disagreements on equality and dignity -- Dignity in same-sex marriage jurisprudence -- Conclusion -- Looking Back and Looking Forward -- Looking back: the progress, moral disagreement and philosophy -- The world survey -- The arguments: liberal vs conservative.

Equality, dignity, and same-sex marriage -- Equality and same-sex marriage -- Dignity and same-sex marriage -- Looking forward: finding common ground? -- Deliberative democracy and same-sex marriage -- Deliberation as the discipline of rights -- Deliberation and equality -- Deliberation and same-sex marriage -- Public deliberation in practice -- A democratic culture, equality, and dignity -- Bibliography -- Index.

This book studies the concepts of equality and dignity, and reveals their inadequacies as grounds for same-sex marriage. It argues that the moral disagreement involved entails finding common ground for deliberation between parties who share fundamental values as fellow rights-holders.

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Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2018. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.