Brownback Mountain? Or, assholes defeated.
Senate says no to stupid-assed anti-gay-marriage amendment. And they did so by slightly more than 50%, which means a handful of republicans. So a minor victory for common sense.
The whole thing was transparently an election-year ploy to appeal to the republican "core constituency" of, apparently, asshats who want to make their religious views the law of the land.
Marriage as a legal contract should be open to any two consenting adults. It's about rights, and it's about ensuring inheritance and power of attourney, etc.
Marriage as a religious covenant should be defined by one's religion.
There are two components NOW to marriages: a legal license, and a religious OR civil ceremony. Clergy are effectively deputized ("the power vested in me" bit) to oversee the civil part, and that need not change. But you can get married legally by a justice of the peace.
Call the legal thing a civil union, regardless of who it is. Make it the default legal thing you have when you get a "marriage license". It's a legal covenant and it grants certain rights -- and it ought to be offered to any two people.
Limit civil unions to two people -- it's a special and privileged partnership covenant. Consenting adults only because it's a legal agreement.
The whole thing was transparently an election-year ploy to appeal to the republican "core constituency" of, apparently, asshats who want to make their religious views the law of the land.
Marriage as a legal contract should be open to any two consenting adults. It's about rights, and it's about ensuring inheritance and power of attourney, etc.
Marriage as a religious covenant should be defined by one's religion.
There are two components NOW to marriages: a legal license, and a religious OR civil ceremony. Clergy are effectively deputized ("the power vested in me" bit) to oversee the civil part, and that need not change. But you can get married legally by a justice of the peace.
Call the legal thing a civil union, regardless of who it is. Make it the default legal thing you have when you get a "marriage license". It's a legal covenant and it grants certain rights -- and it ought to be offered to any two people.
Limit civil unions to two people -- it's a special and privileged partnership covenant. Consenting adults only because it's a legal agreement.