Good question, frogprince.

Some years ago, I was a witness at the marriage of two friends. Neither she nor he were church-goers, and they opted to be married by a judge. Civil union. No religious ceremony. Yet—this was regarded by all as a full marriage, with all the customary rights and privileges prescribed by law, and it was also regarded as such by their employers in matters of health insurance.

Why, then, are same-sex couples united in a civil union—or a religious ceremony—denied these same rights and privileges?

When Barbara and I were married, we went through the usual procedure of getting a license (required by law), signed the marriage certificate before the ceremony, and were then married in a church by a minister. Not by a judge. Yet, we, too, have the same full rights and privileges of a married couple.

As far as church weddings of same-sex couples are concerned, although most conservative or fundamentalist Christian churches are strenuously opposed, not all Christian churches are. There is one church in my neighborhood that has married at least two same-sex couples that I know of, and perhaps more. And there are a couple of other fairly liberal churches nearby who are also signatories to the "Reconciled in Christ – Affirmation of Welcome" that I linked to in an above post.

The government should stay out of the matter and grant full civil rights to everyone. The Constitution does not permit this kind of interference in the private lives of citizens, and any attempt to amend the Constitution to include such interference would be inconsistent with the rest of the Constitution.

If a same-sex couple wants to have a church wedding, there are churches that will do it.

Don Firth