Whether same-sex partnerships should be legal should not even be a question in this country. The whole problem is that from the get go, we have confused a religious rite (which for the sake of this post I will call "marriage") with a legal state (which, again for the sake of this post, I will call "unions").
For those who choose to practice a religion that does not allow for same-sex couples to be joined in their church, that is absolutely their right. I would not want to deny them that right.
For those who choose to practice a religion that does allow for same-sex couples to be joined in their church, that is absolutely their right. And there are churches today that perform services meant to join same-sex couples.
The problem is that while heterosexual couples who participate in this particular rite at their church are then considered to be legally joined, homosexual couples who participate in this particular rite at their church are not.
Why is this?
Because we have mixed up -- for neither the first nor the last time -- Church and State. We took something religious in nature (marriage) and we made it a legal state of being. That should never have been the case. What you do in your church is between you and your church and should not involve the government (assuming, of course, that you are not hurting anyone and everything is consensual).
Had marriage remained in the Church while the government granted legal unions, had Church and State been kept apart, there would be no present-day question about "same-sex marriage". The arguments you hear against such unions always have a moral or religious overtone to them. These arguments are rarely legal in nature. Because legally, outlawing same-sex unions is an equal-rights issue. Our Constitution has been read by the Court again and again to require that we all be treated equally, regardless of little things like race and religion and gender. Outlawing same-sex unions is denying rights to a whole group of people based on their sexual preference.
But we didn't keep Church and State apart. We got them all mixed up together and so now we have this mess today. Many get bent out of shape when a top politician says that he or she doesn't support gay marriage, while he or she does support same-sex unions. However, this should not get people bent. Because that is how it should be: religion left to the Church and laws left to the government.
What you practice in your church should not be a legal matter. Your religious union should not involve the government. However, the law should allow equal rights in terms of legal unions, whether those being legally joined are of the same or opposite sex. The law should allow both opposite-sex and same-sex partners to be joined under the law and thus to reap all of the same legal benefits.
See, it's really quite simple. We got it wrong all those years ago. And now we need to fix it. Because this mess we have today is going to be a really embarrassing blemish on the story of our country. Much like the embarrassing blemish from not that long ago when we didn't allow those of different races to marry.
Let's fix this now, and quickly, so that we can cut off the embarrassment and get on with the business of living with those we love.
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