[Ken H]

Would this work?

Marriage in the United States and in each State shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman.

[Torie]

No, that is the same as putting it in the Constitution, which preempts the issue. I want my fair shake in the public square on this puppy, as do those who are on the other side.

[aristeides]

Allows a Supreme Court end run by forcing the states to confer the legal incidents of marriage on same-sex couples.

[jwalsh07]

My goal is to preserve states privileges, constraining judicial activism, as exemplified by Lawrence and Roe, and keeping the institution of marriage defined as that of the union between one man and one woman.

Torie's goals are probably coincident in the first two cases but contrary in the third.

So the goal is to come up with language that would satisfy us both and put the debate where it belongd, with the people and the states they inhabit.