Marriage and the civilizing of male sexual nature.

Comments on the article by G. M. Herek, "Legal recognition of same-sex relationships in the United States," (see record 2006-11202-004). There are many arguable contentions Herek made in his defense of same-sex marriage. We have chosen to focus on only one in this commentary: What is the active ingredient in marriage that serves the socially advantageous goal of civilizing male sexual nature? Our contention is that the primary civilizing agent is not marriage, the institution, but rather the gender complementarity that marriage has traditionally afforded. Contrary to this view, Herek appears to contend in a somewhat less than certain fashion that access to legal marriage will translate into greater rates of sexual fidelity among gay men. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)