The denial of the existence of our relationships cannot cause the relationships to cease to exist. If I and my partner (whom I’ve yet to meet) wish to declare ourselves husbands and live in a de facto common law marriage, we’ve had basically the same effect on society as if we had gone through a legal ritual. The only things we would be missing are the legal benefits and responsibilities that others have.

And yet, with thousands of these de facto same-sex marriages already out there, society carries on. What harm can legal recognition do to “traditional” families that Chris Brown and Nadya Suleman have not already wreaked?

Fortunately people marry these days not only because of children (although some do), or an arrangement (still in many cultures), or for money and to be “taken care of” (kinda the traditional role), but now they get married for love. Women have mobilized and work outside of the home. they can take care of themselves. They don’t NEED men for anything other than ’sperm’. It’s love that brings us together and keeps us together. Men and Women DO love members of the same sex. If we as a society find it worthwhile to reward two people who have promised to take care of eachother. Then gays should get married too!

Best of luck. There could be one day a Delaware civil unions bill, while MD gay residents are pushing for MD marriage equality. But that depends in part on the departure of some of the homophobes like Thurman Adams one of the very worst from the DE state legislature. DE and MD are different. MD gays are gaining rights while DE gays in say liberal and very urban Rehoboth is surrounded some miles out by largely conservative rural areas.. Things in DE are slower and one DE gay guy I know of who stays on top of the legislative scene in DE says word has it that Adams who has a speaker position in the statehouse and at 79 likely retiring after his current term expires. And word has it that there could be a DE civil unions bill before. My contact also says that DE legislators have a tough “noone will tell us what to do in DE”.

They are very indifferent to the world outside of DE. indifferent to NJ civil unions and to the likelihood of NJ marriage equality on DE’s northern border and to the possibility of marriage equality or to that of civil unions in MD on DE’s western and southern borders.