[Eastbound]

"Should gays have the right to marry?"

The state can't grant rights. . .only protect them. Guess the question should be directed to God. I can't speak for Him, nor can the state.

Matrimony is defined as a union between a man and a woman. Guess the gays will have to invent a new word to describe their thing and then apply for a license to practice whatever it is that they do.

[Luis Gonzalez]

I think the whole thing is going to come down to semantics, and religion.

Gays can legally accomplish much of what marriage entails as far as civil matters are concerned via wills, power of attorneys etc., with the exception of things like Social Security benefits etc, and as far as I am concerned, we should be able to leave any funds remaining in our SS "accounts" to whoever we wish to leave them to, it doesn't become the government's money just because I died.

I think there will be some sort of "civil union" made available to anyone who wishes to enter into a legal cohabitation agreement without being actually married, something not confined to same-sex couples.

As for the institution of marriage, we can't either force Churches to conduct same-sex marriages, nor demand that they don't.

Marriage will survive gay unions, it's survived everything we have done to it thus far.

[sam_paine]

The state can't grant rights. . .only protect them. Guess the question should be directed to God.

Right on. See my #35.