> "Serious issues like abortion must be approached with more care than you are offering it" The same can be said for same-sex marriage and related issues (poly

> "Serious issues like abortion must be approached with more care than you are offering it" The same can be said for same-sex marriage and related issues (polygamy, civil unions for widows/widowers who don't want to remarry, the imposition of religious definitions on secular society OR secular definitions on religion, and so on.) Can you give me a good reason why the benefits attached to marriage should be attached to family A but not family B? Does your reasoning hold up when introducing family C into the mix? What if one family doesn't want to use the term "marriage" but another does? Take my family: I live with my wife, my son, my sister, and her son. I'm responsible for both children during the normal work day. It seems reasonable that this family arrangement should allow us certain benefits which are presently tied to marriage, like access to my nephew's school records and being able to schedule medical appointments for him. As the rest of your comment demonstrates, if you choose certain terminology, you can make complex issues appear to have obvious and simple solutions. The question of how to legally define family relationships deserves far more care than it's usually given.