Originally Posted by: SPLExactly, a marriage comes with 1,049 federal, and several hundreds more state rights and responsibilities, that's what the difference is.
Should same sex couples not be granted those same civil rights, since after all they pay taxes like anyone else?

[font=trebuchet ms]So grant the same rights and obligations, but don't call it a marriage just because you're too lazy to amend the existing statutes.

We got into the same crap because it was found that common-law relationships were leaving people without inderitance or claims to assets during a breakup. Too bad! These people were not married because, for whatever reason, they were unable to agree to be married. The State stepped in and declared that all live-in situations of more that 12 month's duration would carry the ssame rights and obligations as marriage! What a crock! By that logic, money I print in my basement should be just as good as the stuff I get from the bank. :p[/font]