Quote:
Originally Posted by Jennifer
No, it was to the OP.
Basically, gay people are now able to have a union recognised legally, and if that means the same to them as marriage, why can't they consider themselves married?
|
The OP didn't seem to complain about the individuals considering themselves married but rather seemed aimed at the popular press defining it as a marriage.
The dictionary in my office does not define marriage as between persons. I talks of "the institution whereby meen and women are joined in a special kind of social and legal dependence for the purpose of founding and maintaining a family."
Language is important to a lot of people. Legalities are important to a lot of people.
I have friends who are lesbians who refer to each other as husband and wife and to themselves as married. They had, what they refer to, as a marriage ceremony. All of this is fine with me. However, by definition they are not husband and wife, they are not married and they did not have a marriage ceremony.
Marriage may, one day, be redefined. But until that day, one does not have to be a homophobe to be annoyed with the press, or anyone else, playing fast and loose with the definition which had existed in the ENGLISH SPEAKING world for ages. And please remember that marriage is an English word and what other cultures use to define relationships may equate to the English term marriage it in no way redefines the English concept of marriage.
I hope, in the US, that they make marriage the word used to define all relationships with equal legal ramifications for all. As it is, I pay several thousand dollars a year in taxes more than I would if my wife and I were not married. The gay marriages have gotten away with side stepping this tax for long enough. Give them the right to be married and tax the buggers like everyone else. They would be happy to pay and I should feel better about it as well.
Also, as an attorney, the increased work load for handling of gay divorces would make the legal community richer and that can only be a good thing, surely?