One of the favourite arguments of those opposed to same-sex marriage is the idea that the institution of marriage embodies the “complementary” nature of men and women. Just as (they would say) marriage and civil partnership are “equal but different”, so are the genders. The fact that the argument invariably comes from those espousing what they like to call the “Biblical” view of marriage (conveniently skirting over all those polygamous patriarchs in the Old Testament, but never mind) is apt to raise suspicions that what they really mean is that women belong at home in the kitchen while their husbands are out winning the bread in appropriately manly ways. But I doubt it’s necessarily as reactionary as that, at least not in the minds of many of those putting it forward – liberal Anglican bishops, for example.
Speaking yesterday in the House of Lords, the Bishop of Leicester offered a superficially convincing modern twist on the idea.
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