NJ Allows Gay Something

[Spexxvet]

Originally Posted by 9th Engineer

Is anything government controlled actually refered to as 'marriage'? I was under the impression that the government issued certificates for what constitues civil union but that the word marriage was just used colloquially to avoid confusion.

Before I got married, I had to get a "marriage license". After I got married, the only proof I had that I was, in fact, married was a "marriage certificate". I was married in a church, but I don't have something from the government saying that I am in a civil union, and a seperate something from the church saying I am married.

Originally Posted by 9th Engineer

Also, who is really specifying the difference in terms here? Is the government going to make sure they have a record of all homosexual couples so that no worker accidently calls them 'married' vs 'civil unioned' (or whatever)?

I think it's the religious folks who don't want the word "marriage" used. Seems it somehow dilutes the definition of marriage, although the old-time Judeo-Christian definition of marriage certainly didn't exclude multiple wives.

Seems to me that *everyone* should have to get a civil union. If you want to take the additional step of getting married (presumabley in a church), that should be at one's (and one's church's) option.