I am grateful for Stephen J. Pope’s careful reading of my essay and glad to have the opportunity to reply. His basic claim, it seems to me, is that a specifically sexual kind of friendship, not procreation nor friendship as such, is the feature that defines marriage. Marriage is “about a

Those who argue against the legalization of same-sex marriages insist that marriage is ordered toward the procreation of children and that the legal supports given to marriage are given with that end in view. Marriage needs the protection of laws because society must be concerned about its own prese