On Tue, Nov 18, 2003 at 03:15:17PM -0800, Tracy Pierce wrote:
> The whole idea of marriage in the legal has now been completely upended by
> 1) legislation of privilege 2) equal rights (actually meaning "equal
> privileges") demands.  I suggest that tax benefits for married couples
> simply be removed, after which it makes no difference at all whether gays
> marry.

There's much more to it than this. Consider such things as death benefits,
property divisions, and the right to make care decisions when the person
himself cannot do so, just for starters. A person's spouse has rights far
beyond merely tax benefits. It is those same legal rights that should be
available to all, no matter their sexual orientation, and those same legal
rights that the Massachusetts court found the prohibition of same-sex
marriage there to guarantee unequally, thus violating that state's
constitution.

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