For Better or Worse: Same-Sex Marriages in America

In December of 1996, two Hawaiian same-sex couples won a Hawaii State Supreme Court ruling sanctioning their marriages as legal. Hosted by Bill Kurtis, this episode in A&E's Investigative Reports offers a not terribly in-depth overview of the same-sex marriage issue, combining interviews with members of the gay and lesbian community, legal representatives, and scholars, to point out the historical highlights and current status of the law. But these serious areas clearly play second pony to the petty invective from people on both sides of the question: from the usual swipes launched by representatives of the religious right ("to put a boy in a lesbian household is child abuse") to a gay couple's generalization of "heterosexual pathological relationships." Although the program doesn't get much beyond the talk-show/human interest profile level, it does at least touch on some of the major areas of debate, including the argument over benefits and rights (such as the absurd restrictions that deny gays and lesbians "family" visiting rights to their hospitalized partners). A strong optional purchase, especially given the price. Aud: C, P. (R. Pitman)