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Instead, give gay and straight couples alike the same license, a certificate confirming them as a family, and call it a civil union — anything, really, other than marriage. For people who feel the word marriage is important, the next stop after the courthouse could be the church, where they could bless their union with all the religious ceremony they wanted. Religions would lose nothing of their role in sanctioning the kinds of unions that they find in keeping with their tenets. And for nonbelievers and those who find the word marriage less important, the civil-union license issued by the state would be all they needed to unlock the benefits reserved in most states and in federal law for married couples.
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Both sets of lawyers agreed that the idea would resolve the equal-protection issue. Take the state out of the marriage business and then both kinds of couples — straight and gay — would be treated the same. Even Ken Starr, the Pepperdine law dean and former Whitewater independent counsel who argued in favor of Prop 8, agreed that the idea would solve the legal issues, though he said it was a solution that lies outside the legal authority of the court. An attorney for the other side, Michael Maroko, didn't expressly endorse the idea, but he told Chin, "If you're in the marriage business, do it equally. And if you're not going to do it equally, get out of the business."
Civil "marriages" ARE civil unions! Religious "marriages" can still be called "marriages", but they must also include those religions that "marry" same sex couples! Really, this is VERY SIMPLE!
Honestly, I don't care if it is "marriage" or "civil union" or whatever you want to call it. I do think same sex partners should have the same rights as opposite sex partners. I think all "marriages" should be civil unions in the eyes of the state. A church can decide if it wants to "marry" a couple.
They can call it civil unions, but couples will still self identify as 'married' and not 'civil unionized'. After all, if they later divorce, will it be called 'civil disobedeince
I think the state needs to get out of the "marriage" biz altogether. Forget the tax breaks, let people designate who they want covered under their insurance, etc. Then, all of the nonsense will stop.
If someone feels the need to marry a sheep, they should be free to do so...as "teatime" stated, the state should GTFO of marriage altogether and leave it up to personal preference. After all, this is supposed to be a "free" country, right?
Civil "marriages" ARE civil unions! Religious "marriages" can still be called "marriages", but they must also include those religions that "marry" same sex couples! Really, this is VERY SIMPLE!
Marriage is the union of a man and a woman, and should be left alone. Let the church continue marrying as they have always done, and allow for the rest to make legal arrangements to take care of their needs or wants.
Which religions allow for same-sex "marriages"?
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