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Marriage and Civil Unions do not carry the same benefits legally. They aren't even close.

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Depends on the state.

It's a stupid, pointless and bad law.

The only reason for legal marriage is the economic and social realities of heterosexual relationships. If gay people - or straights - want to have a long-term relationship then it is not the place of the state to regulate it one way or the other.

Aestu of Bleeding Hollow...

Nihilism is a copout.

If you're referring to having kids, gay couples can and do have kids as well.

Laelia Komi Anomalocaris

Not by swapping genetic information with their partner, they don't. Aestu is at least partially correct about marriage having developed as a social/legal institution to regulate behaviors and obligations in heterosexual relationships. If the homosexual community wants to take on the trappings of heterosexual relationships, I'm not going to stand in the way, but I'm not going to pretend I don't think it's weird as fuck.

Your Pal,
Jubber

AKA "The Gun"
AKA "ROFeraL"

World Renowned Mexican Forklift Artiste

Lots of same-sex marriages don't involve children born from that relationship. Straight people have kids before getting married, or divorce and remarry, or adopt, or get sperm/egg donations or surrogates. Almost all of those options are also available to gay couples. Even if you think the sole reason behind marriage is protection of children, there's still no legitimate place to draw a line between straight and gay couples.

Laelia Komi Anomalocaris

There are more than just state benefits. Federal benefits that apply to marriages do not apply to civil unions so no they still aren't even remotely equal.

Roy McDonald: "You get to the point where you evolve in your life where everything isn't black and white, good and bad, and you try to do the right thing. You might not like that. You might be very cynical about that. Well, fuck it, I don't care what you think. I'm trying to do the right thing. I'm tired of Republican-Democrat politics. They can take the job and shove it. I come from a blue-collar background. I'm trying to do the right thing, and that's where I'm going with this."

I don't really understand the idea of a blue-collar Republican, but this guy's a champ, even if just for a day.

If destruction exists, we must destroy everything.
Shuruppak Yuratuhl
Slaad Shrpk Breizh

There is...or more accurately, was...a lot more to marriage than just what involved children. I don't see it serving much purpose for straights or gays the way the institution is currently configured, which is one of the biggest reasons I don't give a fuck what kind of marriages they make legal...especially if they finally get to a point where I no longer have to hear about it.

Your Pal,
Jubber

AKA "The Gun"
AKA "ROFeraL"

World Renowned Mexican Forklift Artiste

All of that is inherently political.

Parents produce children through copulation and marriage is there to facilitate that. Do heterosexual couples adopt? Sure. But who can adopt, under what conditions, etc, all of that is political even if it's not necessarily controversial. It's a question of our values and preferences.

Do we allow polygamy? No, but some cultures do.
Do we allow single-parent adoption? No, but some cultures do.
Do we allow male primogeniture? No, but some cultures do.
Do we allow absolute power of life or death over their children? No, but some cultures do.
Do we allow child abandonment or infanticide? No, but some cultures do.

In a diverse society based (at least putatively) on tolerance, it is logical to minimize government involvement in purely human affairs to what is culturally universal. To what can be demonstrated as fundamental to the human character. If people want to form their own values and live their lives as they please then they are free to build a life beyond those basic parameters.

That men and women pair off and make babies is culturally universal. Marriage is something that exists in every culture, and the belief it should be engineered in some way - and to what extent it should reflect the values of a given culture, in ways that are beyond strict human nature - is a matter of cultural preference, backed up by the political system.

The "legitimate line" is between a man and a woman. Period.

Aestu of Bleeding Hollow...

Nihilism is a copout.

I don't see it as "weird" per se.

I simply believe, as a matter of principle, that unnecessary legislation = bad legislation. Laws are dangerous and easily contorted for personal advantage, therefore, legislation should be passed only if absolutely necessary.

Aestu of Bleeding Hollow...

Nihilism is a copout.

Marriage as it exists in Western countries, both culturally and legally, is about more than children. If your argument is that only marriages that involve raising the biological offspring of the marriage are legitimate, then many existing marriages are illegitimate regardless of the sex of the couple. My parents (and almost every other couple their age) have no further responsibility for their children and are physically unable to have more - should the government force them to divorce? Should people who are unable to have children be prevented from marrying, or couples that choose to remain childless be split up? You may be able to make an argument for restricting certain government benefits to a mother, father, and their dependent biological children, but that's a different issue than who should be allowed to marry. I don't think the governments should be involved in marriage at all, but as long as they are, providing benefits to married people while restricting marriage to heterosexual people is unjust.

Laelia Komi Anomalocaris

What are the benefits in question?

Aestu of Bleeding Hollow...

Nihilism is a copout.

There are lots of them. The big ones include joint adoption, joint tax filing, joint insurance, pensions from a deceased spouse, spousal inheritance, hospital visitation rights and the ability to make medical decisions for an incapacitated spouse, legal protections in case of divorce, and protection from being compelled to testify against a spouse.

Laelia Komi Anomalocaris