CAN be, not IS.But marriage IS a legal contract. That's why a legal guarantor is needed.
I was at a gay wedding with my girlfriend (her friends) in Key West around 1995. After the ceremony, were they married or not?
I believe they were married. Just because the US government didn't recognize the marriage as "legal" and, therefore, refused to grant them tax breaks and other rights, benefits and privileges doesn't mean they weren't married.
Exactly, why should government be involved in marriage. There is a better solution for every problem that government supposedly fixes with government marriage