Gay marriage in Maryland again
Posted by Joseph Knippenberg
I couldn’t resist picking at the Maryland gay marriage decision in this week’s TAE Online column.
Update: Michael DeBow takes note of this WaPo article detailing political upheavals in Maryland occasioned by Judge Murdock’s decision.
Update #2: Virginia will have a same-sex marriage ban on the ballot this fall as a proposed constitutional amendment, while Republicans in Maryland are still maneuvering to put the issue before the voters.
6:56 AM / January 25, 2006
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Various commentators on the Right continue to delight in citing Stanley Kurtz’s "data" about how "gay marriage" in Europe is leading to the demise of "straight marriage" and the rearing of children out of wedlock.
Unfortunately, not enough conservatives realize that this is precisely a justification FOR allowing civil marriage for same-sex couples.
The fact of the matter is that these Scandinavian countries do not allow same-sex couples to get married. They have created legal alternatives to marriage.
This is the problem. Creating civil unions, domestic partnerships, civil partnerships, or whatever else suggests that marriage is of little importance to the governance of the community.
In fact, unless you limit these to same-sex couples ONLY, we find that opposite-sex couples may have numerous reasons to opt for these quasi-marriages instead of the real thing.
With all of the problems being suffered today by the institution of marriage, why in the world would anyone want to prevent thousands of couples from proclaiming how important the institution is and how much they want to support it?