Quote:
Originally Posted by Dystopian
they want to get equal govt rights, but need to be married in a church?
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No, they need to be recognised as being married the same way that any other couple is recognised as being married, by the government. Nothing to do with a church. They can have a non-religious ceremony.
Calling it anything other than a marriage opens the door for discrimination.
For example, by Australian immigration law same sex partners are allowed to get a partner visa the same as straight couples are - so this is the government recognising a same sex "partnership", HOWEVER, "married" partners can apply straight away whereas unmarried couples have to be living together for a year first.
And in Australian superannuation law there are a bunch of concessions for "related" people operating SMSFs, which includes married people but does not include same sex couples.
I haven't gone looking for this information, this is just what I know incidentally - I am sure there are dozens more examples.
The alternative to calling it a marriage is to change ALL of these laws to include "partnerships" or whatever you want to call it... but why would you?
If you agree that governments should recognise a same sex partnership and give exactly the same entitlements in every aspect of the law to such partnerships as to married couples, then there is no reason not to call this partnership a marriage.
Unless you are trying to argue that a "marriage" must be sanctioned by a religious institution, in which case I point again to atheist couples being called "married".