The invisibility of marriage

Abstract

[Extract] By marriage, the husband and wife are one person in law: that is, the very being or legal existence of the woman is suspended during the marriage, or at least is incorporated and consolidated into that of the husband; under whose wing, protection, and cover, she performs every thing (Sir William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England. Vol, 1 (1765), 442

In the contemporary debate in both Australia and internationally over same-sex marriage, I have been torn between my antipathy towards the institution of marriage and my desire to see a more inclusive society. In this post I consider this tension in an attempt to articulate a consistent basis from which to understand 'marriage' in a way that respects all as individuals in their own right and likewise affords respect at law to the domestic partnerships they enter into.