Equal civil marriage for all genders

Carolyn Naughton

University of Bedfordshire:

The quest for equal marriage for same sex and opposite-sex couples started over 40 years ago and is hopefully nearing its concluding chapter. In February 2013 the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill started its course through Parliament. It aims to introduce an equal civil marriage regime for everyone through modifications to the current marriage regime. Whilst representing a welcome step in the direction of equality the creation of an equal civil marriage regime is not without its problems in particular insofar as some notions and concepts taken from the current (opposite-sex) marriage regime do not readily transpose to same-sex marriages. The present discussion focuses on two facets of the current marriage regime namely consummation and adultery which at least as currently defined are clearly not suitable to be mechanically transposed to same-sex couples.  The article discusses the government's proposal to retain the concept of consummation in relation to opposite-sex couples only and to retain adultery as currently defined as a ground for divorce...

Read the full article here.