Quote:
Originally Posted by roachboy
personally, i think it's an equal protection issue.
there's no basis for denying the equal treatment of people who happen to be gay who want to avail themselves of the legal and financial benefits of the legal institution of marriage.
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I agree, but I'm also interested in the social aspect. Think of same-sex couples' families. There is a difference between "being together" to raise a family and "being married" to raise a family. It goes beyond the legal and the financial. It is the wider acceptance of your family as legitimate within society. Without being at least entitled to all of these, your family is an abject entity because society at large views it as less than acceptable. It is viewed as invalid and therefore illegitimate (i.e. not a "real" family). These things are not necessary for a family to exist, but they are a reflection of society's view of same-sex couples and their families as acceptable (or unacceptable) social units.
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Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön
Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot
Last edited by Baraka_Guru; 10-06-2008 at 10:45 AM..
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