Document Type

Article

Date

2005

Keywords

Gay Rights, Same-Sex Marriage, Courtesy, Politeness, Legal Process

Disciplines

Law | Law and Society | Legal History | Sexuality and the Law

Description/Abstract

In this paper, I argue that the expansion of LGBT rights requires engagement with the common practices of courtesy that confer and reinforce social standing. In order to understand what this engagement with good manners might look like, I outline the basic features of common courtesy and illustrate how courtesy depends on a mix of utility, habit, and pleasure. I argue that if the practice of courtesy is to be re-appropriated, then all three of the factors that underwrite courtesy must be addressed. I also consider the general possibilities for re-configuring courtesy. And, in this vein, I suggest that the law may provide an important means by which the re-appropriation of common courtesy can occur.

Source

Metadata from SSRN

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

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