Legal Protection for Same Sex Couples
Has anyone considered a compromise solution to the issue of
legalization of same-sex marriages? As an attorney who has spent
years conducting research on the advantages and disadvantages of
marriage vs. living together, my viewpoint is a legal one,
unobscured by religious or moral questions. Legal recognition of
a status for these couples is called for, as is their current
need for self-help in making the laws work for them while they
are still in flux. Traditionally and legally, marriage has been
defined as a union of a man and woman. Changing that definition
is at the heart of the problem. Marriage, throughout history,
has had more to do with procreation than romantic love or legal
convenience. This legal definition and the issue of procreation
have both been used to bolster the denial of the right of
same-sex marriage. What same-sex couples need, and should have,
is the ability to form a legal relationship. The semantics used
to describe this relationship should not matter as much as the
rights and duties arising from it. Denial of these rights is the
discrimination same-sex couples decry. We should not forget that
only during the last generation was the denial of the right of
marriage to members of different races overturned. The law is
meant to serve the needs of the members of society - including
same-sex couples. My compromise solution is a law which allows
same-sex couples the right to a legal relationship without the
hot-button title of