[elwoodblues]

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The non-financial benefits (and many that are financially related) can all be taken care of WITHOUT government involvement.


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No, they can't. The first one off the top of my head: There is a spousal privilege wherein one spouse cannot be called to testify against the other. This cannot be done via simple contract.

While it is true that a gay couple can create a will to bequest property to the other upon death, the BENEFIT to married couples is that they don't need to.

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Just to clarify...ultimately the issue is that beyond the tangible financial benefits are intangible benefits (intestate distribution, medical decisions, etc.) There is a benefit to heterosexual married couples that costs society nothing (they get the benefits without having the costs associated with drafting a document.) It is not okay to say that gay couples get the same benefits when they have to pay for them. That would be like saying that (in a hypothetical world where black kids were excluded from public schools) that it isn't a big deal because black kids can go to private schools.

The response of at least on in this thread would seem to be I don't like any pubic shools. Therefore the only two options are get rid of all public schools or keep the discriminatory ones in place. Either way, I'm fine with that.