About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

4 J.L. & Equal. 117 (2005)
Heteronormativity, Equality, and the Family: Beyond the Freedom to Marry

handle is hein.journals/jleq4 and id is 119 raw text is: Heteronormativity, Equality, and the Family: Beyond the Freedom to Marry Kathleen Lahey* HETERONORMATIVITY AND 'THE FAMILY' In trying to think about how concepts of equality might shape family law in the future and to identify what inequalities remain, it is important to remember that family law as we know it today in Canada continues to be profoundly shaped by its now-obscure origins in centuries-old appropriative, hetero/sexist, racist, and hierarchical family norms.' So long as the assumptions and stereotypes underpinning these policies remain unexamined and unchallenged, constitutional equality guarantees can only go part of the way in solving the long-standing problems generated by heteronormativity in family law. These assumptions include the belief that women's work has less value than that of men; that women should prioritize physical reproduction and home-centred work over waged work; that the best family structure is a single-income family with a stay-at-home carer; that women who work for wages should be prepared to substitute domestic work where needed; that lesbian, gay, and other queer relationships have less value; that parenthood should be defined by biology; and that people in need should be supported by their families, not through social assistance. The attempt to bring equality principles to bear on the manifestations of these assumptions and stereotypes in family law has been particularly challenging because the 'family unit' actually encompasses multiple and competing frames of reference. Inter-family comparisons look at how different types of family units are treated in comparison with each other, as in the comparison between same-sex couples versus opposite-sex couples Professor, Queen's University. For example, property, inheritance, and tax laws in the Roman Empire were initially enacted to place pressure on women to marry and to have children, and on men to leave most of their property not to their male lovers, but to their children. These laws provided for confiscation of property, imposition of heavy taxes, and outright disinheritance of women who did not have the requisite number of children. Estate taxes were first used to confiscate bequests that did not go to men's children but went to their male lovers. By the fifth century B.C.E., the moralism that drove the creation of these heteronormative laws resulted in the merger of early Christian canon law with state law, and the criminalization of non-Christian culture, non-reproductive sex, and sodomy. See generally Kathleen A. Lahey, Are we 'Persons' Yet? Law and Sexuality in Canada (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1999) c. 4 ILahey, Personsl.

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most