(no subject)

[velessa]

Woohoo! Well, still a long way to go but definitely a step in the right direction:

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/08/04/california.same.sex.ruling/index.html

SO FUCK YOU, MORMONS AND HOMOPHOBES! Equal rights for all Americans!

Comments

[randyandrews.livejournal.com]

Why have government involvement at all?

[mutive.livejournal.com]

Well, for child custody, immigration rights, inheritance rights, rights of who makes life and death decisions when you're incapacitated, etc. Not to mention health care sharing, tax benefits, etc. There are a *lot* of reasons to be married to someone from a purely legal perspective. I just would like to see the legal rights separated from the societal rights. (And moved to a civil union sort of thing that didn't involve the idea of "sleeping with" the other person. Heck, I could even see advantages of marriage like rights with siblings, provided that they were who you *wanted* to be legally tied to for various reasons.)

[randyandrews.livejournal.com]

You can cover all that in the contract. Have the contract state what it needs to for those circumstances. OR at the very least, put something to the effect of "Person A has the right to act all of person B's matters And vice versa." Then you can avoid having the government involved.

[mutive.livejournal.com]

Not health insurance. Or immigration status.

And while you *can* put most of these in a contract, there is much to be said about having a very simple, set "form" that 95% of people can use (and don't need to get a lawyer involved with). Of course, you can always alter this with a pre-nup, but still...(And those often have some weird loopholes, too...)

[mutive.livejournal.com]

Plus, even in a contract, the *government* is who would enforce it...so no way to keep them out, unless you don't want any form of legal binding and don't have children.

[randyandrews.livejournal.com]

The health insurance would be done on a case by case basis that depends on the company the person works for. For instance, my health insurance can cover my "domestic partner" whether that partner is male or female. In fact because my vision insurance is better than what my girlfriend can get, she is on my insurance under this plan.

The immigration status is a bit more tricky. I hadn't thought in detail about that. I'm not sure what the solution there would be. Thanks for bringing that up, that's the first legitimate flaw that anyone has ever mentioned in regards to my marriage is a contract only idea.