Speak now: Australian perspectives on same-sex marriage
Victor Marsh (ed); Clouds of Magellan, 2011; 255pp; $29.95 (paperback)
We knew that there was enough in our shared journeying to gather us into the future … whatever it might bring.
Reverend Dorothy McRae-McMahon
Marriage equality evokes passionate debate amongst scholars, politicians and individuals in the community. Often public debates are constructed in polarising terms: conservative religious narratives that value marriage as a procreative institution is weighted against a human rights dialogue that argues marriage equality is a basic civil right. Speak Now: Australian Perspectives on Same-Sex Marriage is a collection of essays, edited by Victor Marsh, that attempts a more provocative discussion beyond the current public debate by interrogating the different political, personal, cultural and affective investments that surround the issue of same-sex marriage (or marriage equality more appropriately). From academic essays to personal musings, the book highlights the disparate ways in which marriage occupies a privileged space in our communities. Given the volume of pieces and the constraints of a word limit, my review explores these issues thematically, so I am unable to do justice or mention every individual author.