Ivy League Historians Testify In Same-Sex Marriage Case

SAN FRANCISCO -Marriage is about more than producing children.

So says a Harvard history professor testifying in a case challenging California’s gay marriage ban.

In her second day of testimony, Nancy Cott disputed a statement by a defense lawyer who said states have a compelling interest to restrict marriage to heterosexual couples for the sake of procreation.

Cott says historically, marriage has also served an economic purpose, with each spouse doing different jobs in the partnership.

And as the purposes of marriage have evolved, she says the reasons to bar same-sex couples from marrying have gone away.

A federal judge is presiding over the non-jury trial in San Francisco on the constitutionality of state bans on gay marriage.

The lawsuit was brought by two same-sex couples unable to marry because of California’s Proposition 8.