tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5510198324204233853.post5423170274820197862..comments2023-10-24T09:05:07.260-04:00Comments on Beyond (Straight and Gay) Marriage: YES on a new word for civil marriageNancy Polikoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09582456539859673052noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5510198324204233853.post-38798177955407810122009-06-17T13:54:17.979-04:002009-06-17T13:54:17.979-04:00I just stumbled across this randomly, and am so gl...I just stumbled across this randomly, and am so glad I did! I agree that the best way to resolve this issue is for the government to get out of the marriage business. Let civil partnerships be the legal term, and let marriage be a matter of religion alone. <br /><br />If people wish to have legal rights and benefits, they enter into a civil partnership. If they also wish to have religious recognition of their relationship, let them go to their place of worship for marriage. Each denomination can then set it's own standards of who they will marry and issue it's own marriage certificates, but it will not effect how people recieve the legal benefits of civil partnership. <br /><br />For the record, I'm a married hetero Christian, and I would have no problem with changing the legal term to civil partnership. To me, when I took my signed marriage license to the county recorder, that was the civil partnership, getting the government's recognition of my relationship with my husband. The ceremony with my pastor, friends & family was a religious ceremony, for the purpose of making vows before God and witnesses about how I would live out this relationship. Two completely separate things in my eyes. <br /><br />If couples want to make a legally binding partnership, they should have every right to, regardless of whether they are a man and a woman or two of the same sex.Stevihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06783004820081256952noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5510198324204233853.post-480580145464952082009-03-28T18:50:00.000-04:002009-03-28T18:50:00.000-04:00States that have replaced the word "divorce" with ...States that have replaced the word "divorce" with "dissolution" do not seem to have confused other states or the federal government of the legal significance of those words. I think the same would apply to changing the word for marriage. The legislation making the change could make this clear. If there were to be a problem on the federal level, I think the pressure from heterosexuals to have the legal status of a married couple would ensure that any necessary changes to federal law would be made.Nancy Polikoffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09582456539859673052noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5510198324204233853.post-90708702537345483992009-03-17T05:04:00.000-04:002009-03-17T05:04:00.000-04:00Right on! I wish more people consider replacing t...Right on! I wish more people consider replacing the word. I've been spreading the "Beyond Marriage" statement since its appearance.<BR/><BR/>I can't say it was exactly hard for me to come to support marriage for same-sex couples, but I did have to deal with a lot of feminist and leftist critiques of the institution I had internalized over the years, critiques which are still tremendously relevant for me.<BR/><BR/>I was wondering, though, from a legal perspective what would happen if a state were to replace the word marriage for civil partnership (I like this term too!)? Would the federal government still recognize a state's civil partnerships for the purposes of federal rights and benefits? How would a state's civil partnership laws mesh with federal marriage laws?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01766563835161022011noreply@blogger.com