Daniel R. Pinello

Solid analysis leavened with excerpts from interviews with same-sex couples in states with Super-DOMAs (which have since, of course, been overturned by Obergefell). I would have preferred a deeper account of at least some of them (along the lines, perhaps, of what Matthew Desmond offered in Evicted), but that is a minor quibble.

The thematic thrust is to describe how the existence of such laws (which not only prevented state recognition of same-sex marriage, but all forms of relationships that might mirror marriage rights, like domestic partnerships or civil unions) impacted real people in six of those states. The threats were real, the oppression heavy, and the price expensive. The outcome will be unsurprising to anyone who paid the least bit of attention to what has been going on in the country for the last few decades, but it is valuable to have some formal demonstration of what amounts to common knowledge: bigotry incurs a cost.… (more)