TIGblogs TIG | TIGblogs GROUP TIGBLOGS LOGIN SIGNUP
Amoeba - My Blog
Amoeba - My Blog
Marriage vs. Civil Union
Related to country: United States

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

Last Thursday, the news reports were abuzz with the news of the legalization of gay marriage in the state of California. As it should be. California, ever in a state of vacillation, has reversed its decision again. In any case, gay marriage is always and infinitely better than civil unions. Why would I say that? Isn't a civil union progress?
No. No, it is not. I argue my case through analogy to the black community, who learned this lesson the hard way. The name of this lesson is Plessy vs. Ferguson. This US Supreme Court case, as you may recall, legalized a “separate but equal” policy, which was of course, always separate but rarely equal. This is the same case with marriage vs. civil unions. Civil unions do not guarantee federal marriage rights because they are issued on at the state-specific level and cannot be guaranteed rights wherever they travel. Some states have decided even if you go to the extent of marrying elsewhere you cannot return to that state and declare your marriage (or even civil union in some cases) legal. This discernment breaks our established codes of conduct between states. Our constitution says that rights apply the same state to state. It is obvious, however, that this is not the actual case, with some states allowing marriage licenses to gay couples and other not recognizing their marriage at all.

But do we have the authority to federalize the marriage to regulate it? No. We don't need that much authority in our personal lives. So what can we do? Federal action is generally considered too invasive and no action puts discrepancies between the states and their laws.

May 19, 2008 | 8:59 AM Comments  0 comments

You must be logged in to add tags.


Amoeba's Profile


Latest Posts
Marriage vs. Civil Union
Human Rights vs....
Stopping Violence...
Killer too obese to go...
Partisan gridlock

Monthly Archive
March 2008
April 2008
May 2008

Change Language


Tags Archive
afs aunt california child civilunions egypt exchange foreign games gay guns housearrest intercultural international marriage money music obese partisan partisanism politics programs shooting usa violence woman

Filter By Type
Travel
Topics


7006 views
Important Disclaimer