I don't get the arguments, I can see the problem in the
US but in the UK?
Okay it goes like this......
Two people - irrespective of gender - fall in love and
wish to live together as a family unit.
They wish to have the world around them acknowledge there love and
partnership. They also wish the
government to acknowledge it, so that they can make medical decisions, legal
decisions and have legal rights and obligations to each other.
So, the idea of marriage comes up. A few hundred years ago - maybe less - they
would jump the broom stick or use some other local ceremony. The government would have nothing to do with
it. Only the rich would or could afford
to get married in a church. Then we move
forward to today, the government has got involved with rights of married
couples and need proof that couples are actually couples - the whole marriage
thing is about proof that they are a legal couple as far as the government is
concerned.
If I (or you) where a conspiracy theorist I may event
think it's another way for big brother to watch and/or control us.......
In the end marriage is a contract between two people to
tell the rest of the world that they are together, it is the governments that
have made rules and regulations surrounding it.
The argument in the UK is about religious marriage of
same sex couples. You have three choices
as I see it:
1. Live
together and love each other as you do and will with no legal safety net or
rights
2. Get
married in a civil ceremony, live together and love each other as you do and
will with legal safety net & rights.
3. Ask
your local priest and or church if they will marry or bless your joining - if
they say no, leave the church and go to points one or two.
Many people out the will be shocked at the thought of
leaving their church but honestly - as a same sex couple, you are breaking their
rules already and if they don't like the way you live they don't deserve you as
a member anyway.
At the end of the day - the difference between a married
couple and a couple is about the legal definition, how you announce your love
and commitment to each other is not that relevant, do it anyway you wish to do
it - shout it from the roof tops, sing like Maria Von Trap, Parachute from a balloon
in tandem it is all personal choice.
Your government needs to record it, acknowledge it, and
grant it legal status - all the rest is personal preference.
Of course the irony here is that it's an even bigger
problem in the US. Even though the US is
a (supposed) secular state, it seems the
church has the upper hand in this system because most religions seem to think
same sex relationships are 'a sin' and this sways the government.
