Citation

Auchmuty R. Fem. Psychol. 2004; 14(1): 101-126.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2004, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0959353504040307

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

In June 2003 the UK government published proposals for a civil partnership registration scheme for same-sex couples that would confer almost all the legal rights and responsibilities of marriage. The paper discusses its provisions in the context of the debates on same-sex marriage over the past decade and argues that they hardly represent any advance on existing rights and that same-sex marriage will inevitably be won in the UK. The author herself is unenthusiastic about marriage, and concludes that lesbians and gay men should not let themselves be assimilated into a heterosexual model, but should draw attention to the potential for our relationships to act as better models for all relationships, inside or outside marriage.