Why talk about sexuality and public policy? Isn sexual behavior purely a personal matter?
While there are obvious civil liberty issues concerning social and governmental oversight of personal sexual behavior, human sexuality is in fact an activity which is highly regulated by society through custom, religion and legislation. Even those who adopt a libertarian attitude toward sexuality tend to respect modern social prohibitions regarding certain behaviors, e.g. incest, rape, and sex involving children. By contrast, historically some these practices have been tolerated to varying degrees in certain cultures while many other practices currently considered acceptable have been prohibited. In general, prevailing sexual behaviors are consistent with and governed by prevailing social attitudes. The most clear relationship between sexuality and public policy is the institution of marriage. Marriage has existed in most societies as a religious and civil institution which encourages an association in which sexuality can be privately and exclusively expressed by each partner. Marriage
