I mean that the American people said, through various deeds: this is my wife, I want her to inherit my property when I die, I want her to be able to make my healthcare decision if I am incapacitated by illness or accident, and if we suddenly decide we hate each others guts I want mediation, and I want it all done with as little upfront paperwork as possible, and I want the government to assure it. This is what caused legal marriage to happen.
It’s a licensing matter because that’s the paperwork that makes all the above happen. When you and somebody else file that piece of paper you’re telling the government that you want access to all the assurances above.
I didn’t say they have to do it in the name of revenue. I said they’re gonna lose a lot of cash, and gain nothing. The fact is they’re still going to get stuck RECOGNIZING marriages when it comes to inheritance and HIPAA and all that. They’re still going to get stuck DISSOLVING marriages with all the judges and buildings and paperwork that implies. They’re just not going to make any money on the front end.
Sure the ceremonies COULD take place in Mississippi without government help. But most won’t. Since people are going to have to go to another state to get the paperwork most folks will say “heck let’s do the ceremony there too”.
Inheritance and health decision issues do not require marriage....because you still need powers of attorneys and executors and so on, and these are often NOT a spouse or even a relative in the first place.
Thus, that argument really doesn’t hold water. All these things have been handled for millions of couples who are not “married” just fine. So has division of property for unmarried people splitting up.