Application of a Justice as Fairness Perspective to Laws Banning Same-Sex Marriage

Abstract

This paper utilizes John Rawls’ theory of Justice as Fairness to assess laws banning same-sex marriage. It is argued that such laws are unjust from this perspective in that they do serve to disadvantage homosexuals in regards to the legal benefits of marriage. In addition, legal unions (i.e. domestic partnerships or civil unions) that stop short of marriage do not compensate for this unjustness in that they do not offer the same legal benefits of marriage.