The issue really isn;t about the sexual partner boy/girl, boy/boy, girl/girl ... it is a small minority of ignorant folks who have a beef with the less mainstream variations of that ... the argument is; if we are redefine the legal status given to all types of human relatinships, where do we draw the line? How do we define them? Mind you; many of the legal status issues of non-mainstream relationships can be reslved via other means (living wills, powers of attorney, etc) but I agree these issues are not completely resolved (health insurance, for example) and may be uncessarily difficult to resolve. So some form of legal status ought to be resolved ... so called "same sex marriage" could solve the problem for many non-mainstream relationships. But what about folks who are dead serious about polygamy? Why is open minded to accept homsexual marriage and not polygamy? Or plural marriages (multiple mongamous, short-term marriages)? And there will be others too ... I don;t say don't solve it - I say dig deeper and resolve the whole issue of relationship status. Marriage is only one of those - granted it may be the commonest - but others deserve consideration too.