Focus on the Past: Nostalgia in the Same-Sex Marriage Debate

Author:

• Carrie Anne Platt (Univ of Southern California)

Abstract:

This paper explores how activists in the same-sex marriage debate utilize and challenge the rhetorical tactic of nostalgia. It documents how conservative activists use nostalgia to focus public attention on an idyllic past, and how their opponents refocus public attention on an idyllic future. It will discuss how public anxieties over nontraditional family structures are informed by a longing for the past, and consider the implications of including sentimentality in political deliberation over public issues.