Mark D. White

Writer, editor, teacher

recent posts

about

I’m a professor in the Department of Philosophy at the College of Staten Island/CUNY, where I teach courses in philosophy, economics, and law, and the author/editor/co-editor of several books.

Category: Homosexuality

  • Justice is done—and done the right way—in SCOTUS’ decision on marriage equality

    Mark D. White Today the Supreme Court of the United States—now, thanks to Justice Scalia's dissent in yesterday's King v Burwell dissent, "officially" known as SCOTUS—declared marriage to be a right for all, covering both same-sex and opposite-sex couples. In his majority opinion, Justice Kennedy affirms same-sex marriage to be a matter of rights and…

  • David Brooks on same-sex marriage, freedom, and individualism in The New York Times

    Mark D. White In his New York Times column today, David Brooks hails the movement for same-sex marriage as an admirable step away from personal freedom and autonomy: …last week saw a setback for the forces of maximum freedom. A representative of millions of gays and lesbians went to the Supreme Court and asked the…

  • Uganda and anti-gay law: This (again) is why you don’t put basic human rights to a vote.

    Mark D. White My stomach turns at the news that Uganda is set to pass a law that imposes life sentences and sometimes the death sentence for homosexual acts: KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Uganda's anti-gay bill will be passed before the end of 2012 despite international criticism of the draft legislation, the speaker of the…

  • Chick-fil-A, Corporate Social Responsibility, and Ethical Consumption

    Mark D. White I've read an enormous amount of what's been written on the Chick-fil-A controversy the last couple weeks, although I'm sure I haven't scratched the surface. But I was fascinated by Will Wilkinson's recent post at The Economist's Democracy in America blog, titled "Feathers Flying," in which he casts the fast food company's stance…

  • “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” officially ends

    Mark D. White As this New York Times article celebrates, the U.S. military's "don't ask don't tell" policy is officially over. Military personnel who are gay or lesbian no longer have to suppress their identity and compromise their cherished virtue of honesty to serve their country. (H/T: Erica Greider.)

  • This is what happens when you vote on issues of human rights…

    Mark D. White From today's Albany TImes Union: CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — More than 1,500 married, New Hampshire gay couples could be placed into a classification all their own if lawmakers succeed next year in repealing the state's two-year-old law legalizing same-sex unions. Legislation to repeal gay marriage is one of the highly charged issues…

  • Marriage equality in New York: It should have been done better.

    Mark D. White Last nigt New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a bill allowing same-sex marriage after a lengthy process of legislative tomfoolery. Those who have read my previous posts and work on the issue will not be surprised to hear that I am very happy about the result and less than pleased with the…

  • Assessing Competence to Refuse Medical Treatment

    Mark D. White Last night I read a wonderful and concise article by Jillian Craigie (King's College London) from the latest issue of Bioethics (25/6, July 2011) titled "Competence, Practical Rationality and What a Patient Values." The abstract follows: According to the principle of patient autonomy, patients have the right to be self-determining in decisions…

  • Same-Sex Marriage Should Be Defended on Moral Terms, Not Economic Ones

    Mark D. White Sociologist Jaye Cee Whitehead (Pacific University) has a wonderful piece in The New York Times today titled "The Wrong Reasons for Same-Sex Marriage," arguing that the recent arguments espousing the economic benefits of same-sex marriage for cash-strapped states and municipalities miss the point: Those making these economic arguments probably have the best…

  • One more step toward repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” (DADT)

    Mark D. White As I'm sure you already know, the U.S. Senate voted today to end the ban on open homosexuals in the military. I hope the president signs this bill and ends seventeen years of forcing gay and lesbian Americans who wish only to serve their country to either lie about or conceal an essential…