Now the dictionaries herald the same kind of “emerging awareness” about gay marriage. The Supreme Court cited an “emerging awareness” that gay people shouldn’t be treated like criminals in striking down remaining state sodomy laws in 2003. The new entries in Webster’s, Black’s, and soon the OED signal that the idea of same-sex marriage has come of age.
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Instead of fending off or ignoring the dictionary, gay advocates will be able to cite the new editions in their briefs. The entry simply states that marriage is “the state of being united to another person as a contractual relationship according to law or custom.” And the king of them all, the Oxford English Dictionary, since 2000 has included in the definition of marriage the phrase “long-term relationships between partners of the same sex.” *īut for those judges who are open to the notion that statutory and constitutional meaning can change over time, the dictionary acceptance of same-sex marriage will offer evidence of a shift in public views.
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Even more interesting, 2008’s Webster’s Contemporary School and Office Dictionary says nothing gendered about marriage at all. How, exactly, has the wording in the dictionaries changed? American Heritage went first, adding this to its definition of marriage in 2000: “A union between two persons having the customary but usually not the legal force of marriage: a same-sex marriage.” In 2003, Webster’s included in its definition “the state of being united to a person of the same sex in a relationship like that of a traditional marriage.” In 2004, in its eighth edition, Black’s added “same-sex marriage” to its marriage entry, recognizing that “same-sex couples have successfully challenged the laws against same-sex marriage” in a number of states.