Vanna,

"Neutral, Almost no research has been carried out into de facto relationships in our feminist society, but estimates are that they last on average 3-5 years"

Based on your estimate then it's obvious I don't live in your feminist society.

Nor am I interested.

But I will include femnaziprozacpusherphobia in my list of bizzare and paranoid closet communist conspiracy theories.

While I'm not an active supporter I can understand the positions taken by Ammonite, King Hazza and Pelican. They make fair and valid points.

As do Brian2520 and Philo for the protaganists.

Just spare us any bigotry, conspiracy and hypocrisy.

I'll leave the philosophy to those with greater foresight that I do.

However from a practical perspective, its interesting to have more evidence to support what we know works.

Someone once said that it seems foolish to expect a different outcome from repeating the same course of action.

J_95,
Human relationships have natural outcomes that have hundreds of years of history of what works and what doesn't. Homosexuality is not a new human act. We do not need experiments on children, we need established designed principles or love security and provision by natural parentage.

Philo what we need is for people to stop dictating, the way they want things to be.
Australia is a democracy not a theocracy, and there are no reds under the bed!!

Thankyou Pelican and Neutral.

Brian- The bottom line with 'marriage' is that regardless of how much esteem or sacredness we place on it, it is still the same situation if one spouse simply finds themselves incompatible with- or incapable of caring for the other; and it boils down to whether by forcing a marriage that in all but legal views, does not really exist anymore- is hurting both parties- or someone who pretends that forcing a now unwilling partner to remain 'bound' to them is a good thing, as they personally benefit.

If anything- the only problem with marriage is that is IS actually treated as a solution in itself to maintain or justify a relationship, and too many people are jumping into them with partners they hardly cooperate with.
Even that aside, many people enter marriages unaware that their partner may be withholding (very convincingly) a nastier side of their personality to trick them into being bound to them.

Kipp,
So you are willing to dictate to the children that they be born of fatherless or motherless parents - hence the social problems we have today.