Of those who do base marriage policy on contingent calculations of prudence or feasibility, some are what we might call "constructivists."84 They deny that there is any reality to marriage independent of custom - any set of objective conditions that a relationship must meet to ground the moral privileges and obligations distinctive of that natural kind of union which we have called real marriage.85 For constructivists, rather, marriage is whatever social and legal conventions say that it is, there being no separate moral reality for these conventions to track. Hence it is impossible for the state's policy to be wrong about marriage: different proposals are only more or less feasible or preferable.86
This view is belied by the principled distinction between the whole spectrum of ordinary friendships on the one hand, and on the other hand those inherently valuable relationships that first, organically extend two people's union along the bodily dimension of their being; second, bear an intrinsic orientation to childbearing and rearing; and third, require a permanent and exclusive commitment. Marriage's independent reality is only confirmed by the fact that the known cultures of every time and place have seen fit to regulate the relationships of actual or would-be parents to each other and to any children that they might have.
Even if marriage did not have this independent reality, our other arguments against revisionists would weigh equally against constructivists who favor legally recognizing same-sex unions: They would have no grounds at all for arguing that our view infringes same-sex couples natural and inviolable right to marriage, nor for denying recognition to unions apparently just as socially valuable as same-sex ones, for marriage would be a mere fiction designed to efficiently promote social utility. The needs of children would still give us very strong utility-based reasons to have a marriage policy in the first place.87 And the social damage that we could expect from further eroding the conjugal view would more than justify preserving it in the law.88 This justification would only be strengthened by the possibility of meeting other pragmatic goals in ways that do not threaten the common good as redefining marriage would.89 So even constructivists about marriage could and should oppose legally recognizing same-sex partnerships.
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