Same Sex Relationships From Odious Crime to Gay Marriage

Author: Stephen Cretney
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 9780199297733
Published In: May 2006
Format: Hardback , 356 pages
Jurisdiction: U.K. ? Disclaimer:
Countri(es) stated herein are used as reference only

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Concerns one of today's most controversial issues which has prompted debate about constitutional reform in the US, and is set to become legalised in the UK as of December 2005
Considersfundamental question of whether civil partnerships can satisfy the demands of equal treatment
Considers the constitutional implications of the reformation of the House of Lords and the possible creation of a Supreme Court in the UK

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?

Readership: Academics, undergraduate and postgraduate students interested in civil liberties, human rights, family law and gay rights; practitioners in family law and same-sex relationship rights; NGO's, pressure groups, and charities working for gay rights and civil liberties; and the interested public.

I From Felony to the Love that is Proud to Speak its Name

II Partnership or Marriage: The Provisions of the Civil Partnership Act

III The Family, Partnership, and the Judges

Appendices

Text of The Civil Partnerships Act 2004, Parts 1 and 2, and Schedules 1 to 9

Report of the Committee on Homosexual Offences and Prostitution paras 1 - 147 and pp 130 - 135

Judicial Decisions

Halpern et al v Attorney General of Canada et al, Court of Appeal for Ontario

Lawrence v Texas, United States Supreme Court

Hillary Goodridge & others v Department of Health and others, Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts

Opinions of the Justices to the Senate, Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts

Lofton v Secretary of the Department of Children and Family Services, United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit

Stephen Cretney, Emeritus Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford

"..for those who crave detail, both legal and anecdotal, there is plenty to be found in the copious footnotes that, in accordance with Cretney's usual style, contain a treasure trove of secondary sources." - Child and Family Law Quarterly, 2007

"..his arguments warrant consideration and reflection." - Child and Family Law Quarterly, 2007