C_Clayton_Jones
Diamond Member
How about this;
Instead of the government overstretching its arms and defining marriage for us, how about the government will only be in the business of granting two consenting adults (straight or gay) who want to be recognized legally as "a couple" a civil union. This union will grant the couple all of the traditional legal benefits a married couple today enjoys under the law - ie allowing them to file taxes together, access to one another's health care records, access to employment benefits, access to one another's wills, ability to make medical decisions for each other - it just will no longer be called a "marriage" from a legal standpoint.
Next, the term "marriage" will be solely be left up to the church or religion or spiritual group of the couple to define. If the couple is Catholic, and the Catholic church will not perform a marriage on the couple because they're gay, then too bad - the couple is SOL. Go to a new church.
I think this would work perfectly fine. Problem solved?
No, its not a semantics shell game.
Marriage laws exist however written by a given state. All citizens must be given access to those laws, unless the state can provide a compelling reason as to why not supported by evidence, which is not the case with same sex couples. Members of the clergy are not subject to the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, they can not be compelled to marry same sex couples, which was never at issue in the first place.
Indeed, this entire subject is a non-issue, states need only obey the 14th Amendment and allow all their citizens equal access to all their laws.
Now the problem is solved.