From Civil Partnerships to Same-Sex Marriage

From Civil Partnerships to Same-Sex Marriage PDF

Author: Nicola Barker

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2015-04-17

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 1317632052

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The Civil Partnership Act 2004 and the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 are important legal, social and historical landmarks, rich in symbolic, material and cultural meanings. While fiercely opposed by many, within mainstream narratives they are often represented as a victory in a legal reform process that commenced with the decriminalisation of homosexuality. Yet, at the same time, for others they represent a problematic and ambivalent political engagement with the institution of marriage. Consequently, understood or labelled as ‘revolutionary’, ‘progressive’ and ‘conservative’, these legal reforms provide a space for thinking about issues that arguably affect everyone, regardless of sexual orientation or relationship status. This edited collection brings together scholars and commentators from a range of backgrounds, generations and disciplines to reflect on the first ten years of civil partnerships and the introduction of same-sex marriage. Rather than rehearsing the arguments ‘for’ and ‘against’ relationship recognition, the essays ask original questions, draw on a variety of methods and collectively provide a detailed and reflective ‘snap shot’ of a critical moment, a ‘history of the present’ as well as providing a foundation for innovative ways of thinking about and engaging with the possibilities and experiences arising from the new reality of relationship recognition for gays and lesbians.

From Civil Partnership to Same-Sex Marriage

From Civil Partnership to Same-Sex Marriage PDF

Author: Nicola Barker

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2015-04-17

Total Pages: 252

ISBN-13: 1317632044

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The Civil Partnership Act 2004 and the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 are important legal, social and historical landmarks, rich in symbolic, material and cultural meanings. While fiercely opposed by many, within mainstream narratives they are often represented as a victory in a legal reform process that commenced with the decriminalisation of homosexuality. Yet, at the same time, for others they represent a problematic and ambivalent political engagement with the institution of marriage. Consequently, understood or labelled as ‘revolutionary’, ‘progressive’ and ‘conservative’, these legal reforms provide a space for thinking about issues that arguably affect everyone, regardless of sexual orientation or relationship status. This edited collection brings together scholars and commentators from a range of backgrounds, generations and disciplines to reflect on the first ten years of civil partnerships and the introduction of same-sex marriage. Rather than rehearsing the arguments ‘for’ and ‘against’ relationship recognition, the essays ask original questions, draw on a variety of methods and collectively provide a detailed and reflective ‘snap shot’ of a critical moment, a ‘history of the present’ as well as providing a foundation for innovative ways of thinking about and engaging with the possibilities and experiences arising from the new reality of relationship recognition for gays and lesbians.

Beyond (Straight and Gay) Marriage

Beyond (Straight and Gay) Marriage PDF

Author: Nancy D. Polikoff

Publisher: Beacon Press

Published: 2008-02-01

Total Pages: 351

ISBN-13: 0807044342

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The debate over marriage equality for same-sex couples rages across the country. Beyond (Straight and Gay) Marriage boldly moves the discussion forward by focusing on the larger, more fundamental issue of marriage and the law. The root problem, asserts law professor and LGBT rights activist Nancy Polikoff, is that marriage is a bright dividing line between those relationships that legally matter and those that don't. A woman married to a man for nine months is entitled to Social Security survivor's benefits when he dies; a woman living for nineteen years with a man or woman to whom she is not married receives nothing. Polikoff reframes the debate by arguing that all family relationships and households need the economic stability and emotional peace of mind that now extend only to married couples. Unmarried couples of any sexual orientation, single-parent households, extended family units, and myriad other familial configurations need recognition and protection to meet the concerns they all share: building and sustaining economic and emotional interdependence, and nurturing the next generation. Couples should have the choice to marry based on the spiritual, cultural, or religious meaning of marriage in their lives, asserts Polikoff. While marriage equality for same-sex couples is a civil rights victory, she contends that no one should have to marry in order to reap specific and unique legal results. A persuasive argument that married couples should not receive special rights denied to other families, Polikoff shows how the law can value all families, and why it must.

Same Sex Couples - Comparative Insights on Marriage and Cohabitation

Same Sex Couples - Comparative Insights on Marriage and Cohabitation PDF

Author: Macarena Sáez

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2015-05-06

Total Pages: 215

ISBN-13: 9401797749

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This book shows six different realities of same-sex families. They range from full recognition of same-sex marriage to full invisibility of gay and lesbian individuals and their families. The broad spectrum of experiences presented in this book share some commonalities: in all of them legal scholars and civil society are moving legal boundaries or thinking of spaces within rigid legal systems for same-sex families to function. In all of them there have been legal claims to recognize the existence of same-sex families. The difference between them lies in the response of courts. Regardless of the type of legal system, when courts have viewed claims of same-sex couples and their families as problems of individual rights, they have responded with a constitutional narrative protecting same-sex couples and their families. When courts respond to these claims with rigid concepts of what a family is and what marriage is as if legal concepts where unmodifiable, same-sex couples have remained outside the protection of the law. Until forty years ago marriage was the only union considered legitimate to form a family. Today more than 30 countries have granted rights to same sex couples, including several that have opened up marriage to couples of the same sex. Every day there is a new bill being discussed or a new claim being brought to courts seeking formal recognition of same sex couples. Not all countries are open to changing their legal structures to accommodate same-sex couples, but even those with no visible changes are witnessing new voices in their communities challenging the status quo and envisioning more flexible legal systems.

Same Sex Relationships

Same Sex Relationships PDF

Author: Stephen Michael Cretney

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 368

ISBN-13:

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Based on the 2005 Oxford Clarendon Lectures in Law, this book deals with the remarkable change in society's attitude to homosexuality over the last half century. Until 1967 homosexual acts were punished by the criminal law and as recently as 1988 Parliament forbade teachers from suggesting that homosexuality was an acceptable family relationship. In 2005 Parliament passed the Civil Partnership Act, which creates a framework in which same-sex couples can have their relationship legally recognised in much the same way as marriage. This book looks at the essentials of the civil partnerships contruct, and asks whether it is really creating an institution of 'gay marriage'? If not, the next question to ask is whether civil partnership can satisfy the demands for equality increasingly being made by the gay community? In the United States, the courts have taken an active and progressive stance, holding that to deny marriage to same sex couples and leave them with mere partnership is to create a 'separate but equal' situation historically associated with the racial discrimination now universally recognised as unconstitutional and morally unjustifiable. However, the political climate has risen to a fever pitch with the current administration's push for constitutional amendment to ban outright gay marriage. In the UK the courts have been less activist, but the potential creation of a Supreme Court raises important questions about the boundaries between the roles of judiciary, the legislature, and government; and whether the judiciary should play a more constitutionally active role than has thus far been traditional?

Same Sex Marriages

Same Sex Marriages PDF

Author: B. Heaphy

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2013-03-05

Total Pages: 205

ISBN-13: 1137311061

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Based on extensive couple and individual interviews with young same sex couples who have legally formalized their relationships, this book argues that same sex marriages as they are lived need to be understood in terms of interlinked developments in lesbian and gay life, heterosexual relationships and in personal life.

Same Sex Marriage and Civil Partnerships

Same Sex Marriage and Civil Partnerships PDF

Author: Mark Harper

Publisher: Family Law Publications

Published: 2014

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781846618598

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This New Law Guide examines the legal changes introduced by the Civil Partnership Act 2004 and the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013, and the rights and responsibilities that are afforded to those who register under the scheme, as well as examining the law as it relates to cohabitants, so that the legislation can be seen in context. The CPA 2004 makes provision for Scotland and Northern Ireland but this work confines its analysis to the implications for the law of England and Wales of the CPA 2004 and the MSSCA 2013. It includes an analysis of some of the parliamentary debates, many of which will be relevant in future arguments about the meaning of the statute, in accordance with the rule in Pepper (Inspector of Taxes) v Hart. In addition, there is consideration of some wider material for the purpose of evaluating compatibility of the legislation with Convention rights, including the value judgments inherent in the test of proportionality as suggested in Wilson v First County Trust Ltd. Appendices contain the full text of the MSSCA 2013 and relevant extracts from the CPA 2004. SAME SEX MARRIAGE & CIVIL PARTNERSHIPS - THE NEW LAW provides an authoritative commentary, highlighting areas of potential difficulty and offering practical guidance, and will be essential reading for all family lawyers, housing lawyers and also chancery practitioners dealing with inheritance claims.

Same-sex Marriage

Same-sex Marriage PDF

Author: Patricia M. Stockland

Publisher: ABDO Publishing Company

Published: 2007-09-01

Total Pages: 114

ISBN-13: 1617852619

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Discusses the controversial viewpoints regarding same-sex marriages.

Making It Legal

Making It Legal PDF

Author: Frederick Hertz

Publisher: Nolo

Published: 2018-04-01

Total Pages: 250

ISBN-13: 1413325106

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Marriage equality is here to stay: Understand the benefits and complications Full legal marriage is now available in all U.S. states. But there are still many questions that same-sex couples should discuss before walking down the aisle. Learn how marriage will affect: your family if you have children your taxes, and your responsibility for your partner’s debts. Making It Legal also covers state laws on same-sex domestic partnerships and civil unions, and explains whether your registration will be recognized if you move to another state.

Same-sex Marriage

Same-sex Marriage PDF

Author: Patricia M. Stockland

Publisher: ABDO

Published: 2007-08-01

Total Pages: 114

ISBN-13: 1604538198

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Discusses the controversial viewpoints regarding same-sex marriages.