Is rejection of homosexual marriage unjust discrimination?
In Italy in 1980 two men presented a request to the municipality of Rome to have their marriage banns published. The registrar obviously refused, pointing out that one of the essential conditions for celebrating marriage was missing.. The refusal was contested in court, but the challenge was rejected by the Tribunal of Rome (the decision of 28 April 1980 was published in Foro ital., 1982, I, col. 170). The judges noted that the word “marriage” itself certainly means – as is clear from the root of the word (matris munium) – “the union of a man and a woman to form a family”; furthermore, this meaning is universally accepted (one need only consult a dictionary) and has a long history (think of Modestinus’ celebrated definition: coniunctio maris et feminae). Lastly, art. 143 of the Civil Code expressly confirms, de iure condito, that “husband” and “wife” must be the parties to marriage. The sexual difference of those to be married, the sentence concluded, must be considered an indispensabl
