(WARNING: Snark Alert!)
Those poor, poor dears who supported Prop 8 must be in high dudgeon today, following that decision from the meanie judge in California. They’re just trying to defend the sanctity of marriage from Teh Gays and the Eeeevil Libruls and such.
Gentle readers, I think I have an idea to soothe their rustled nerves and satisfy the Constitution at the same time. How’s about we just cancel out the more than 1,000 particular legal rights that come along with a marriage license in this country?
Yup, that’s right. Those sweet, holy people who claim it’s just about the sanctity of marriage can put their money where their mouths are. Renounce all the legal rights that come with the white lace and promises, and bring it all back to where you say it is: the sanctity, the tradition, the godliness and all that. Give up the tax breaks, the rights of survivorship and inheritance, the thousand and one automatic legal presumptions and legs-up and bonus points you and yours get for inking the license.
Oh, not so much? Well, then, I guess it’s not really about the sanctity–it IS about the rights that you think you deserve because you put a particular Tab A into another particular Slot B. And others whose blueprints don’t work that way shouldn’t have the same rights ’cause their blueprints are….icky.
So stuff your sanctity. Or go practice it peacefully, according to your own conscience, with my sincerest blessings. Or abandon it all, if you wish. It’s entirely up to you. Just don’t try to deny other people THEIR legal rights because YOU conflated your own moral squick with the legal privileges attached to a particular legal status.