Thursday 15 March 2012

Through the looking glass: the government's consultation document on same-sex marriage



'When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, 'it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.'

'The question is,' said Alice, 'whether you can make words mean so many different things.'

'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master — that's all.'

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"There is currently no legal definition of religious or civil marriage though the Marriage Act 1949 is clear where a marriage is solemnized and whether the ceremony is conducted according to certain religious rites." (The government's consultation document on same-sex marriages, 2.9)

"Specifically, non-consummation and adultery are currently concepts that are defined in case law and apply only to marriage law, not civil partnership law. However, with the removal of the ban on same-sex couples having a civil marriage, these concepts will apply equally to same-sex and opposite-sex couples and case law may need to develop, over time, a definition as to what constitutes same-sex consummation and same-sex adultery." (idib. 2.16)

Read it here.


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