Gay Marriage - a matter of etymology.

I don't know how I feel about striking down a ban on "Gay Marriage," actually.

Marriage is a term symbolic of a monogamous, procreative relationship of a sort that existed BEFORE the establishment of formal legal institutions. Marriage as we know it in America is an establishment which is historically rooted in religion, and calling the non-procreative union of homosexual couples a "marriage" just strikes the wrong chord with me.

Don't get me wrong, I believe that gay people should be allowed to have civil unions, and be considered one another's spouses - I believe that steps should be taken to equalize the status of "marriage" and a civil union, but I don't support the idea of gay "marriages." I just think that the word "marriage" is steeped in tradition and ideals that deserve some level of reverence.

I think part of the reason marriages nowadays are degraded - divorce rates have increased, getting married at all has declined - is partially because people don't value it they way they used to.

I don't see anything about the term "civil union" that implies second class citizenship. What a husband and a wife share is also considered a civil union in the legal sense, it is only ADDITIONALLY called a marriage because of the religious or traditional implications of that bond.