1. What issues should one consider in deciding whether gay and lesbian marriages are morally defensible?
2. Is a civil union arrangement an acceptable “middle ground?
3. If the American people ultimately favor gay and lesbian marriage, could we then consider a morally defensible practice?
4. Are children at moral risk if raised by same-sex couples?
5. If scholarly studies ultimately demonstrate that homosexuality and lesbianism are substantially commanded by genetic characteristics, would we be morally required to permit same-sex marriage?
Edie Windsor, an 83-year-old lesbian, struck an historic but not yet definitive blow for gay and lesbian rights when she successfully sued the U. S. government to strike down Section 3 of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Windsor sued because the government, consistent with DOMA, did not recognize her 2007 marriage to Thea Spyer, her long- time partner, who died in 2009.