ABSTRACT
“New natural law” arguments continue to be deployed in public and legal debate by those opposed to moves to display tolerance toward and secure greater civil equality for homosexuals and their relationships. It will be argued that “homosexual conduct” laws seek to regulate the intimate lives of individuals in a way strongly incompatible with the tolerance required in a free society. New natural law theory proceeds on the premise that fully reasonable action actualizes basic, pre-moral goods. New natural law theory condemns not only all homosexual acts but also a great number of acts committed by heterosexuals, including marital contracepted sex, adultery, divorce, fornication, oral sex, anal sex, and masturbation. No new natural law argument can justify a situation and thus a fundamental principle of fairness is violated. New natural law theory similarly fails to provide a reasonable justification for the exclusion of same-sex couples from civil marriage.
