I would say here that /people/ are fundamentally different in the way that they think, feel and experience things. It falls to each unique couple -- or trio or quartet or whathaveyou -- to work out how they will balance their needs within the relationship.
As an utterly random example: I am incapable of putting away silverware. To both of the significant partners in my life fell/falls this particular task. For "putting away the silverware" you may substitute any number of other quirks, beliefs, opinions and feelings. One may, perhaps, generalize out that heterosexual couples and homosexual couples may typically find different balance points, but the same is true of any other sociological grouping. Couples from Spain are likely to be different than couples from Poland. Does this mean that their marriages should be classified differently?
As for finding legislative value in the distinction, I both agree and disagree. Yes, if we make "Gay Marriage" into a Civil Union (with all of the standard marriage trappings), you can neatly duck around any "defense of marriage acts" that may be written. However, it also puts gay couples in a different category than straight couples, and part of the entire point of this push is to get over that silly distinction. A committed relationship between consenting adults should be the same no matter who the adults in question are.
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Hmm.
Date: 2003-07-31 05:52 am (UTC)As an utterly random example: I am incapable of putting away silverware. To both of the significant partners in my life fell/falls this particular task. For "putting away the silverware" you may substitute any number of other quirks, beliefs, opinions and feelings. One may, perhaps, generalize out that heterosexual couples and homosexual couples may typically find different balance points, but the same is true of any other sociological grouping. Couples from Spain are likely to be different than couples from Poland. Does this mean that their marriages should be classified differently?
As for finding legislative value in the distinction, I both agree and disagree. Yes, if we make "Gay Marriage" into a Civil Union (with all of the standard marriage trappings), you can neatly duck around any "defense of marriage acts" that may be written. However, it also puts gay couples in a different category than straight couples, and part of the entire point of this push is to get over that silly distinction. A committed relationship between consenting adults should be the same no matter who the adults in question are.