CA Ban on Gay Marriage overturned: Big whoop

[howeird]

The government should not be in the marriage business. Marriage is a religious institution which has no place in the law. If everyone is supposed to be treated equally under the law, there should be no special privileges or taxes for married people. I feel the same way about domestic partnerships.

Today's ruling should be a moot point. Anyone who wants to get married ought to be able to do so according to the rituals of whatever religion they belong to. Atheists can make up their own ceremony - the usually do anyway. Marriage is between two (or three or four or...) people, and the State ought to have nothing to do with who can and can't.

There are many places where marriage bleeds over into law, but it shouldn't, and there are work-arounds:
Inheritance: Write an effing will. Name your partner as beneficiary if you want. Existing laws cover this already.
Visitation rights: If there isn't a law in place which allows you do pre-designate people who are allowed to visit you when you are ill, let's get one passed.
Health care: If there isn't a law allowing you to add anyone you want to your health care package (with the appropriate fees charged for the extra body) let's get one passed.

Thanks to the high failure rate of marriages, there are already laws in place to protect the children.
There are already laws in place allowing co-ownership of property by people who are not related.
Anything else?

Comments

[howeird]

Others include the polyamorous version of your #1, a pledge of exclusive sexual fidelity between two people, a pledge of financial sharing between two or more people, an agreement by one person to support one or more others in return for cohabitation and/or progeny. And so on.

My gripe is with #2. I do not agree with the current practice of the government or commercial entities (such as insurance companies and health care facilities) of granting rights or privileges to married people which they do not grant to single people. We are supposed to all be equal under the law.