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Whereas Canada has managed this redefinition relatively easy, the UK has so far
fudged the issue by introducing a parallel status, and California finds itself in the
unenviable position of having redefined marriage twice during 2008: first to admit
same-sex couples, and then to exclude them.
Of course, these policy statements only tell part of the story. These black-and-white
accounts of legal reality are undoubtedly meaningful and authoritative, yet if we are
interested in assessing impact as well as intention, legislation and policy provide us
with the first word rather than the last. The legalisation of same-sex marriage and
civil partnership have set in train social processes and understandings, and can be
seen as something akin to the firing of the starting gun for a race, or in the case of
California, an obstacle course. More explicitly sociological understandings of
marriage and civil partnership provide a useful vantage point for observing how this
race is being run. Having set out the policy background to legal recognition for
same-sex couples, the following chapter will begin to explore sociological aspects of
marriage and civil partnership and of same-sex couple relationships.
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