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Re: :: Celibacy: Everyday Presentations
Jacinta & Craig (jascraig@GEKO.COM.AU)
Tue, 19 Dec 1995 12:09:01 +1100
At 08:59 AM 18/12/95 PST, you wrote:
>On Dec 16, Donna Lanclos wrote:
>
>>I suppose I was just trying to be more specific, and to be clear about
>>what I consider the word "spouse" to connote (perhaps I should have used
>>the phrase "long-term" rather than "lifetime.") What might be insulting
>>in Mr Graber's typology is the implication that same sex partners are
>>not, in fact, spouses, since homosexuality was included in his typology
>>of celibacy.
>
>Are same-sex partners really "spouses"? The traditional definition is
>a heterosexual monogamous partner who has been publicly and legally
>acknowledged by a prescribed ceremony (i.e. the wedding) and procedure
>(i.e. filing for a license). Can a same-sex partner cause society to
>afford them the same definition by emulating the formalities? They
>certainly can not come close to emulating the underlying structure of
>combining their DNA to produce another human being (yet anyway- though
>it's been advocated along with test tube babies).
yes, Donna is right, long term or lifetime partners equal spouses, no matter
what the sex of the partners. As for the ability to re-produce, I know of
many couples who have adopted, (or in the case of one lesbain couple, they
used sperm, made one of them pregnant, and then had the other adopt it as well).
Jacinta
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