Forcing the spring : inside the fight for marriage equality / Jo Becker.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents: The "pact"—A conservative icon joins the cause—"Just wait"—A mad dash—Going public—"Prove it"—Where's David?—An unexpected development—"All rise!"—"A higher arc"—History lessons—A day of surprises—Stigma—On parents and families—Who's a bigot?—A courtroom journey to the Netherlands, via Massachusetts—A judge's memories—God, gays, and political power—The naughty boy—The science of sexuality—The plaintiffs rest—Cooper's turn—"A high ol' time of it"—Victory—A trump card, reluctantly played—"Sometimes prayers work"—When a nightingale sings—Some "grist for Justice Kennedy"—8—Obama "comes out"—Chad and the case enter a new phase—A star witness's mea culpa—Chad's big test—"Don't they have a responsibility to act?"—Selma to Stonewall—Framing the arguments—Kennedy v. Kennedy—"Skim milk marriages"—"Dignity"—June is for weddings.

Abstract: This book begins on Election Night 2008, when a controversial California ballot initiative called Proposition 8, which removed the right of gay men and women to marry, passed alongside Barack Obama's election victory. It details how a small but determined group of political and media insiders took the fight for marriage equality all the way to the Supreme Court. Gay activists and Hollywood liberals joined together to enlist attorneys Ted Olson and David Boies, the opposing counsels on the Supreme Court's infamous Bush v. Gore ruling, to bring a controversial legal case against Proposition 8 before the highest court in the land. This is the extraordinary ringside account of this unprecedented effort to shift public opinion and reengineer the political certainties of an era”—provided by publisher.

English