Monthly Archives: June 2005

The Lessig blog community is pretty amazing. Self-regulating, constructive, challenging. Looking back I hope you can see how we paid off on our promise of informational incrementalism We’ve suggested that discrimination in the military might be ameliorated by asking a simple question. We’ve suggested that discrimination by the boy scouts might be ameliorated by mandating a private conversation. We’ve suggested that marriage discrimination might be ameliorated by collecting vacation pledges. We’ve suggested that employment discrimination might be ameliorated by certifications of legal promises not to discriminate. We’ve suggested that discrimination in a variety of contexts might be ameliorated by leaving… Continue reading →

Imagine that one day you hear your child at play say to another “The way you throw is so gay.” It seems “gay” has become a catch-all insult. How do you respond? You could just let it pass. After all, home and family should provide a refuge from the clamor of the outside world. Gay rights are fine, you might think, but social change is something that happens out there, in society, not within our walls. Then again, maybe social change must begin at home. Many heterosexual people –even those who avoid political activity — have become allies in the… Continue reading →

4 p.m. EST update on June 7, 2005: I’m told the pledge form is working again. My apologies for the inconvenience. Despite the Goodridge victory in Massachusetts, the battle for same-sex marriage has only begun. Many states have passed constitutional bans on gay marriage. Opponents of equal marriage rights even seek to amend the U.S. Constitution. The Vacation Pledge for Equal Marriage Rights encourages states to take the landmark step to democratically legalize same-sex marriage. Why is legislative action so important and how can individuals help to promote it?… Continue reading →

A little over one year ago, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial court made history with its 2004 decision in Goodridge, generating a new option for gay couples: marriage. We all know the controversy (and state constitutional amendments) these changes have wrought. Much of the focus has been on same-sex couples and their choices: will they travel to marry? Will they seek to transport their marriages across state lines and impose them on unwilling home states? Less noted has been the new and difficult choice presented to heterosexual couples: Now that it is possible to marry in a jurisdiction that does not… Continue reading →

Here’s a proposal for making progress toward equality in the military that is again an example of both ambiguation and informational incrementalism. It comes from Chapter 6 of Straightforward. Ian and I support the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” But is there anything that can be done as a precursor to changing this law? Imagine that every soldier upon entering the military was asked a simple question. Would you prefer to serve in a command without any gay personnel? Soldiers would know that if they answer “No” they would be assigned to an “inclusive” command, and that if they… Continue reading →

Name a type of intellectual property that the owner can’t practice?… Continue reading →

In his 1995 Chicago Law Review article, The Regulation of Social Meaning, Larry Lessig discussed some of the rhetorical devices that can change a society’s shared understanding of the meaning conveyed by a given word or action. One of these, Lessig explained, was “ambiguation,” which gives “a particular act, the meaning of which is to be regulated, a second meaning as well, one that acts to undermine the negative effects of the first.” In Straightforward: How to Mobilize Heterosexual Support for Gay Rights, we argue that when heterosexuals tolerate ambiguity about their own sexual orientation, they use ambiguation to promote… Continue reading →