Legal recognition of gay and lesbian families

 

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Content type
Family Matters article
Published

March 2000

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Abstract

This article suggests that lesbian and gay claims to relationship recognition are transforming both what we think of as family, and the domain of family law. While some have claimed that legal recognition of same sex couples forms a 'slippery slope' into immorality or social disintegration, reform in this area is increasingly being accepted as an equal and just treatment of all citizens by the law, argues the author of this article. She discusses and evaluates developments in Australia, and questions whether the law will broaden further, to be a more flexible and dynamic regime in the future, and whether family law will ever catch up.

This article suggests that lesbian and gay claims to relationship recognition are transforming both what we think of as family, and the domain of family law. While some have claimed that legal recognition of same sex couples forms a 'slippery slope' into immorality or social disintegration, reform in this area is increasingly being accepted as an equal and just treatment of all citizens by the law, argues the author of this article. She discusses and evaluates developments in Australia, and questions whether the law will broaden further, to be a more flexible and dynamic regime in the future, and whether family law will ever catch up.

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