"The research that I did uncovered that a civil union didn't equal a civil marriage."
His statement is undeniable as a description of the current political landscape: many opponents of same sex marriage do not object to civil unions for same-sex couples, and many advocates of gay marriage are not satisfied with civil unions.
Yet Baldacci's statement is also puzzling: for all practical purposes, civil union and civil marriage are identical.
So how might governments resolve the conflict? By exiting the "marriage" business and providing civil unions only to both same-sex and opposite-sex couples.
This accomplishes any legitimate goal of having government define and enforce the particular bundle of contracts (regarding inheritance, property, children) known as civil marriage. But it leaves the controversial aspect of this action - using the term marriage - to private parties.
Under this policy, some couples will just get civil unions. Some couples will also get "married" in religious ceremonies, but these will have no legal significance. This will apply to both same-sex and opposite-sex couples.
Everybody should be happy with this arrangement. Right?
6 comments:
Will you union me?
Current traditional marriage folks will clearly be upset. Moreover, same sex people will see it as a second best solution. so everyone will be happy because No one will be happy...
does this mean that the current arrangement occurs at a Pareto efficient point?
to me marriage is an inherently religious word. Before the separation of church and state, government and religion went hand in hand.
Civil unions makes everyone including atheists happy!
A civil union and a civil marriage are not equal. Aside from logistical state-based minutiae (e.g., are all forms in the State of Maine going to be redone to include "civil union" in the marital status question?), at a national level, please see the most recent US GAO report about the 1,000+ rights, privileges, and responsibilities explicitly tied to marriage (www.gao.gov/new.items/d04353r.pdf). I fail to understand how the citizenry consistently deny the lesson that separate is never equal.
earth 4 energy -
easy launcher -
easy system cleaner -
eatstopeat -
eat stop eat -
error smart -
evidence eraser -
evidence smart -
fatburningfurnace -
fat loss 4 idiots -
fitness model program -
fit yummy yummy -
flattenyourabs -
flatten your abs -
forex trading machine -
forex trading made ez -
get your exgirlfriend back -
google snatch -
governmentregistry -
government registry -
grow taller 4 idiots -
guy gets girl -
hcg recipes -
homemadeenergy -
home made energy -
how to break 80 -
hyper vre -
instant domain cash -
i software tv -
jamo rama acoustic -
linden method -
lose the back pain -
magni work -
Thanks a lot for this time sharing about CIVIL UNION VERSUS CIVIL MARRIAGE. This is really a nice reading to be sharing.
Post a Comment