I know this may seem like a much discussed topic. But with the rise of Santorum (ick) and the depressing return of the discussions about birth control and the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman for the purpose of raising a family, I must speak up. Even though Lord Damnable and I are in an "opposite marriage", I LOVE that term, we fall outside of the Christian Right's definition of a proper marriage.
I was married for twenty years and have two wonderful children who are now 26 and 31. Five years after I got divorced, I got married again. We were in our late forties, wanted no more children and got married purely for love and companionship. I know. Horrors!
Were we vilified for entering into a non-child bearing marriage? No. Did we encounter ANY legal obstruction to getting a marriage license or getting married? No. Does our childless marriage hack away at the crumbling foundations of traditional marriage in any way whatsoever? No. Are we in any essential way different from a gay or lesbian couple who wish to marry? No. So why should we get a pass and gay and lesbian couples be relentlessly attacked as the Right has done for years now? Utter nonsense. Please use us an an example for any of your annoying relatives that rail against gay marriage. Also, please point out that in the bible, most marriage are between a man, his multiple wives and a few concubines. The argument that marriage between one man and one woman has been the standard for thousands of years is absolutely false. But those people also believe that women should stay home and have babies because that is what God wants and birth control is thwarting God's will. You know, right-wing assholes.
Here are just a few more of the rights which straight couples have and gay couples are denied.
As long as you are one male and one female, not already married, of legal age and not related by blood closer that second cousins:
One of you can be a terrorist, a murderer or child molester and be serving a life sentence. You can be 100 years old and marry an 18 year old. You can get married the day you get divorced, or ask for a divorce the day you get married. You can marry for money, revenge or social status. You can marry a non-citizen. You can marry as many times as you like as long as they don't overlap. You do not have to love with the person you marry, in fact you can even hate them. You can marry without procreating, like us.
As long as you are one man and one woman (except in the lovely states that have passed marriage equality laws) you can get married. So can we stop all the silliness about marriage and become a nation that supports ANY couples wish to marry? It's about time.