In light of the recent vote on Proposition 8 in California, a friend of mine and I propose the following. I'm going to use her words, because she's so damned awesome:
It's the wording, you know. I've thought about this a lot, and the only
solution I can come up with that doesn't activate the Jesus freaks is to
define marriage as "a religious institution that, as such, has no legal
standing." That way, anyone and everyone can get a civil union, and a
civil union is the only arrangement that provides legal protection. But
if you want to get "married" you talk to a priest, cause the government
isn't involved.
So any church that wants to perform marriage ceremonies can do so as they see fit. Anyone who wants religious approval can go to the church of their choice, or fight within their churches to gain approval for their unions in the eyes of god. But any adult couple that wants to join in co-owning, child-sharing, joint-tax-filing prosperity must do in a government-provided civil union.
Yeah, it'll mean getting two ceremonies if you want religious approval. But it will definitively remove government from what is, in essence as it relates to the topic of gay marriage, a RELIGIOUS debate.
Thoughts? Bonus question: if I get a lot of support behind this, who wants to join in with me to get this to be the actual policy in our states and, eventually, our country? Or am I behind the times, and is there already a fight like this going on? :-)
