Definition of confusion: UK govt to re-term ‘husband’ and ‘wife’
June 28, 2013 15:50
A man can be a “wife” and a woman can be a “husband,” the UK government has decided, overruling the Oxford English Dictionary and effectively putting an end to the traditional meanings of the words for marriage partners.
The move has been denounced as the vocabulary of “cloud cuckoo land” and “gobbledegook” by critics who believe that the terms ‘husband’ and ‘wife’ should have their traditional meanings preserved.
Updated explanatory notes in The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill being considered by the government is causing it to have to redefine the two terms, “clarifying” what it means.
“‘Husband’ here will include a man or a woman in a same sex marriage, as well as a man married to a woman. In a similar way, “wife” will include a woman married to another woman or a man married to a man,” says the new footnote.
However, the traditional male-only meaning of husband and female-only understanding of wife could return in some cases – to “ensure that gender-specific terms such as ‘husband’ keep their gender-specific effect.”
“The term ‘husband’ will in future legislation include a man who is married to another man (but not a woman in a marriage with another woman); and ‘wife’ will include a woman who is married to another woman (but not a man married to another man) unless specific alternative provision is made,” declares the drafted legislation.
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Parallels have been drawn in the British media with a recent example of Spain. The socialist government introduced gay marriage in 2005, when it was announced that the following year Spanish Birth certificates would read ‘Progenitor A’ and ‘Progenitor B’ instead of ‘mother’ and ‘father,’ in a move termed ‘Orwellian’ by UK officials.
The practice of gender nonspecific terms has spread far beyond Europe: Ambiguously gendered people were given the option in 2011 of listing their gender on passport applications as ‘X’.
Definition of confusion: UK govt to re-term ‘husband’ and ‘wife’ — RT News
June 28, 2013 15:50
A man can be a “wife” and a woman can be a “husband,” the UK government has decided, overruling the Oxford English Dictionary and effectively putting an end to the traditional meanings of the words for marriage partners.
The move has been denounced as the vocabulary of “cloud cuckoo land” and “gobbledegook” by critics who believe that the terms ‘husband’ and ‘wife’ should have their traditional meanings preserved.
Updated explanatory notes in The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill being considered by the government is causing it to have to redefine the two terms, “clarifying” what it means.
“‘Husband’ here will include a man or a woman in a same sex marriage, as well as a man married to a woman. In a similar way, “wife” will include a woman married to another woman or a man married to a man,” says the new footnote.
However, the traditional male-only meaning of husband and female-only understanding of wife could return in some cases – to “ensure that gender-specific terms such as ‘husband’ keep their gender-specific effect.”
“The term ‘husband’ will in future legislation include a man who is married to another man (but not a woman in a marriage with another woman); and ‘wife’ will include a woman who is married to another woman (but not a man married to another man) unless specific alternative provision is made,” declares the drafted legislation.
....
Parallels have been drawn in the British media with a recent example of Spain. The socialist government introduced gay marriage in 2005, when it was announced that the following year Spanish Birth certificates would read ‘Progenitor A’ and ‘Progenitor B’ instead of ‘mother’ and ‘father,’ in a move termed ‘Orwellian’ by UK officials.
The practice of gender nonspecific terms has spread far beyond Europe: Ambiguously gendered people were given the option in 2011 of listing their gender on passport applications as ‘X’.
Definition of confusion: UK govt to re-term ‘husband’ and ‘wife’ — RT News
