Re: Same Sex Marriages.

Just a piece of paper ? is heterosexual marriage just a piece of paper ? I don't think so !

Also the civil partnerships are fine for some in fact some heterosexuals wish to use that but at the moment are not allowed.

Some of the homosexuals I have met in my life wish to be able to simply say this is my wife or husband which technically they cannot with a civil partnership.

Re: Same Sex Marriages.

ah ah - now it is even getting more complex - who is able to carry the title of 'wife' or 'husband' and why - isn't the historic case that these terms are embedded in both religious and non-religious history and carry a male and female classification?

ergo - if two lesbians marry then can one of them call herself the 'husband' even if she does dress in suits?

Re: Same Sex Marriages.

I think in the cases I am thinking of they wanted to be 2 wives, and the men 2 husbands. Not a problem with that myself, if they can be boyfriends and girlfriends then why not husbands and wives ?

Re: Same Sex Marriages.

In today's paper it was mentioned that hetero civil partnerships will be acknowledged soon so maybe marriage is on the way out anyway.?

Husband=a man married to his wife
Wife= a woman married to her husband

guess we'll have Mrs and Mrs Jones nd Mr and Mr Smith etc unless they each just keep their own names and what will their adopted kids surnames be?

Re: Same Sex Marriages.

Personally I don't care who marries who, because at least it shows a proper commitment to one another, which is more than can be said for people who co-habit year after year leaving the escape route open...

Re: Same Sex Marriages.

I can't really see a problem with Mrs and Mrs or Mr and Mr, times we use the terms these days are few anyway, everyone seems to use first names.

Re: Same Sex Marriages.

I have a pair of men friends who are marrying in June.Between them I see more love respect and affection going on between the 2 of them than I see in most woman man relationships I know. I have offten wondered why most people I meet have married or had children as its plain to see they dont want either. Must people I have spoken to before and after marraige say its just what you do ...get married and have kids , with that much thought put into it, as a young woman I would see girls of my age grab the first bloke they could manipulate into proposing and marry them, as I got older men and woman who feeling time was running out again marrying the first person to show interest.. Most of these people married from a fear of some sort and are now devorced having affairs or still married but living seperate lives and never speak to each other unless nessercary because of kids. They have lived together for 8 years have traved the world together and both had to learn each others language, they have had some hard times due to family and others bias. They are now building thier own home from scratch working hard everyday, but still have time to help neighbours and other elderly people in the village, often have parties to get people together and are kind and gererous. If any one deserves to marry and be happy it's them.

Re: Same Sex Marriages.

If we don't want to use the words husband and wife because of their connotation of gender why not say spouse - this is my spouse - or even create a new word. I was a marriage celebrant for 10 years and did many commitment ceremonies for both male and female couples and was happy to do it but it does make me smile a bit that so many heterosexual couples aren't bothered about getting married when they could, and gay couples want to when they can't.

The majority of weddings in Australia are performed by Civil Celebrants without any religious bases - it is simply a legal registering of your partnership. If you want to have a big ceremony along with it you can but it's not compulsory.

It's a bit like euthanasia - why do all the people who are not religious have to be dictated to by those who are? If you're an atheist what does it matter to religious people what you do and how you do it? Why do they feel they have to lay down the law for everyone else?

Re: Same Sex Marriages.

I 'm thoroughly bored with this subject , marriage is on the way out as we've always defined it, good/bad ,it doesn't matter anymore, it's legal and that's that, the next thing is to ensure that children in these relationships are protected ( as they are in any other circumstances)

Re: Same Sex Marriages.

Marriage is, and should be, an option for those who want it but I don't believe it should carry any particular weight over a civil ceremony. It wasn't all that long ago that most of us would have been refused marriage in a church - the closest you would have got was to stand on the church steps outside the doors! Marriages in church were restricted to the nobility. Vicars/Priests didn't perform the ceremony either - the couple simply declared themselves to one another in front of their witnesses.

I agree with maggis - marriage is on the way out, it doesn't really offer anything.