>>On Tue, Feb 10, 2004 at 04:31:53PM -0500, Doug Henwood wrote:
>>
>>> Saying you're for "civil union" but not "marriage" is an admission
>>> that you're going for a second-class institution. Press people on why
>>> they make the distinction and the hem and haw and can't answer
>>> because they can't bring themselves to admit to a prejudice.
>
Civil Unions could be made equal to Marriages by including in the
amendment the phrase "In all state legislation and regulations
the word 'marriage' shall be amended to read 'marriage or
civil union'." The problem with this is that such language would probably
not entitle Civil Unions to the "full faith and credit" clause of
the US Constitution, so they would be equal only in Massachusetts.
In any event, since a Massachusetts constitutional amendment
could not take effect until 2006, there remains nearly a two-year
window for Massachusetts marriages that would be permanently entitled to
full faith and credit from all other states (though perhaps not
from the federal government under Clinton's "defense of marriage"
act [which Kerry opposed]).
Shane Mage
"Mortals immortals, immortals mortals,
living their deaths, dying their lives"
Herakleitos of Ephesos, fr. 62