The evolution of marriage

There has been a huge debate around Australia on legalising same sex marriage. First off I think we need to break down what marriage is, where it came from and how it has transformed over time. 

What is marriage?

The English word matrimony derives from the Latin word mater meaning mother. This definition however, doesn’t really give an insight to what marriage really means. The Germanic word wedlock originating from the Old English word wedlac, meaning pledge, insinuates some sort of promise or contract between people. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary similarly defines marriage as a bond, ‘the state of being united to a person of the opposite sex as husband or wife in a consensual and contractual relationship recognized by law’, or ‘an intimate or close union’. While the first definition states that a marriage should be between a man and a woman, this same dictionary redefined its meaning of marriage in 2009 adding the sentence, ‘the state of being united to a person of the same sex in a relationship like that of a traditional marriage <same-sex marriage>’. In fact, there are many different definitions and forms of marriage in diverse societies. Some societies allow polygyny, which means a man is allowed to have more than one wife. Polyandry, another form of marriage, is when a woman is allowed to have more than one husband at a time.

Has marriage always been a religious or civil union? 

Marriage seems to have evolved through social sanctions and expectations, these beliefs change from one society to the next, depending on the environment and social norm. Many lawyers refer to a ‘marriage contract’ in court to illustrate their client’s martial rights and duties. This is the same for Islamic law which defines marriage as a ‘contract for the legalisation of sexual intercourse and procreation of children’. For Muslims, marriage is strictly a private matter and does not require a religious ceremony. In fact, many societies around the world have written marriage agreements, especially those between the bride and grooms families. These marriage arrangements are usually employed when one family’s fortune could be lost should the union breakdown. Although these marriage statements cover inheritance, allowances, dowries and financial settlements, they rarely include intimacy issues. Therefore, the fact that marital unions involve contractual elements indicates that marriage is nothing else but a contract.

In Western history, marriage customs demonstrate that marriage was treated as a business deal, rather than a personal matter concerning only the husband and wife. For example, in early medieval Europe (6th century) the bride was treated as an object in a lordship arrangement between her father and her husband. This form of marriage as a transaction changed in the 12th century, under the influence of the Church, to give marriage a religious meaning. It was in the 13th century that a priest took charge of the proceedings in a wedding ceremony and the wife became more than just a bargaining tool. It was during this time that the Church transformed marriage from a civil agreement to a spiritual union, relying instead on the mutual decision of both partners becoming ‘one flesh’ (Matthew 19:5,6).

Should marriage only be classified between a man and a woman? 

The Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) would like to keep the Marriage Act as it is, because they believe marriage is one of the oldest socially recognised institutions with its central purpose being to produce offspring. The Bible states that marriage is a lifetime union between a man and a woman, primarily for the purpose of building a family and providing a stable environment for that family. The ACL and other religious institutions consider same sex marriage to be wrong according to the Bible. The ACL assume that if same sex marriage is legalised, it’ll only be a matter of time before other forms of marriage such as polygyny and polyandry are legalised. Marriage has indeed changed over the years as it was only in 1664 that interracial marriage was seen as illegal and unnatural. This changed in 1967 when the law in Virginia stating that interracial couples could not get married, was overturned.

Does the Marriage Act as it stands, discriminate against same sex couples?

The Marriage Act s46 (1) states ‘Marriage, according to law in Australia, is the union of a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life.’ This statement then makes it unclear whether the 1.7% of the population that is intersex (those having both male and female genitalia) are allowed to marry anyone. One in every 2000 people are born intersex which is the same percentage of people who are born with red hair. Comparing these two human characteristics against each other illustrates how defining marriage the way it is described in the Marriage Act can have an underlying discriminatory tone. In 1958, Martin Luther King Junior clearly stated ‘When society says that I cannot marry a certain person, that society has cut off a segment of my freedom’. Discrimination of any sort has dire effects on people, physically and emotionally. Iain Hay, Assistant Professor at the University of Canberra, says it’s a human rights issue. Literature states that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transsexual young people actually take their lives, due to the confusion around their sexuality, as they feel isolated and unsupported. Many experience verbal or physical abuse in schools, work or social circumstances. Research shows that people who experience this form of abuse are more likely to suffer from depression, eating disorders, drug and alcohol abuse, homelessness and ultimately are far more likely to attempt suicide. Well known comedian Josh Thomas believes that the biggest contributing factor to the issues surrounding homosexuals is homophobia and the Marriage Act as it stands empowers this.

Is Australia ready?

Recent polls conducted by Galaxy Research show that 53% of Australian Christians support same sex marriage. In comparison, only 20% of Americans supported interracial marriage when it was first legalised. The last bill regarding same sex marriage that passed through Parliament was denied, as just 42 MPs supported the bill while 98 MPs voted against it. This may or may not have been because only Labor allowed its members a conscience vote on the issue, meaning that they did not have to all vote in the same way. The Coalition on the other hand, did not allow a conscience vote. Anthony Albanese, a Labor frontbencher says there’s been a significant progress towards legalising same-sex marriage. Albanese says he’s quite confident that in around 10 years time, most of us will be attending a same sex marriage that is legalised here in Australia.