How about you get a partnership agreement? Will that work for you?

No? Then your proposal is not a very good one, is it?

Instead of "married", you can be "butt-buddies".

The GOP/Tea Party have no claim on civil liberties until they come around on gay rights

None.

If the religious types don't like same-sex couples using "marriage" to describe their relationship, then we all should use a different word for it.

Like communion.

Jim Olmeyer: Hello! We're your neighbors from two doors down and we just wanted to welcome you to the neighborhood!
[hands the Colonel a gift basket]
Jim "JB" Berkely: Everything's from our garden, except for the pasta.
Jim Olmeyer: Yes, it's from Fizzoli's, it's amazingly fresh, you just pop it in water and it's done! I'm Jim Olmeyer.
[shakes the Colonel's hand]
Jim Olmeyer: And this is my partner Jim.
Jim "JB" Berkely: Jim Berkely, but people call me J.B.
[extends his hand to shake]
Colonel Frank Fitts: Ah, let's just cut to it, what are you selling?
Jim Olmeyer: Nothing, we just wanted to welcome you to the neighborhood.
Colonel Frank Fitts: You said you're partners, so, uh what's your business?
Jim Olmeyer: Well, he's a tax attorney.
Jim "JB" Berkely: And he's an anesthesiologist.
- American Beauty (1999), stolen from IMDB


Do we get our own business cards? Can we incorporate in any state we want? Do I finally get the corporate discount at Costco? How about the ceremony? Do we just go to the Chamber of Commerce? If we get married, is it a business expense? Are wedding gifts tax deductible? What's the depreciation on my cats, Thor Batman and Delenn Janeway*. Is there payroll tax? If I find him stealing pens, can I fire him or dock his pay? If he steals food from the fridge, can I fire him? Do we have to close on holidays? Does my fiscal year have to be the same as a calendar year? I've been using Quicken for years, but will I need to start using IFRS instead of GAAP? If we split up, do we need a bankruptcy lawyer? Do I need some kind of HR policy? Do I have to go through termination procedures if I don't live in a "right to work state"? We have pictures of our families in the living room, will I have to get one of those laminated posters?

I'm waiting, Willard.


*not their real names

bravian: We already have this - its called "marriage".

Whoa let's not tarnish the legitimate marriages of god's ordained straight people now.

Mitt Romney introduces "clap of you believe" legislation to save Tinkerbell.

bravian: We already have this - its called "marriage".

Precisely, the historical and traditional "marriage" isn't some sort of church or government regulated arrangement between two people. Traditionally, it's just two (or more) people who decided to hold themselves out to be married and live as a married couple.

Petey4335: /wife and I biologically can't have kids, does that disqualify our marriage, too?

Yes, you have to get a "Co-habitation Agreement Between Infertile Persons Agreement".

You know, if the Republicans had gotten behind the idea of domestic partnerships about 15 years ago, they could have probably gotten that idea to stick as a compromise position, especially since a lot of gay advocates, at the time, were convinced that that was the only viable option.

But they dug in their heels and, as a consequence, the gay community moved on to advocating for marriage rights... and they got the momentum of the country on their side.

So it's a bit late for Romney to come around and say, "Hey guys, why don't we compromise?"

Petey4335: Problem is, we didn't know that before we got married... so we'd have to do even more stupid paperwork?

Takes about a day at the DMV. It's more romantic than it sounds.

bravian: We already have this - its called "marriage".

Oh I don't know - I still say gay lunch sounds pretty intriguing. Also gay parking.

Cletus C.: I still don't know if he thinks anal sex is OK.

Mormons don't even like oral or use of contraceptives
Link (new window)

AcneVulgaris: Your partnership agreement invalidates my marriage before god. He's going to send locusts again.

Gay locusts, in little leather chaps.

pwhp_67: Zerochance: At least he's proposing SOMETHING. The rest of the derp brigade is unequivocally against it in any way whatsoever.

Hell, even Obama says it's a "states rights" issue.


Because it is?


A marriage license is a document issued, either by a church or state authority, authorizing a couple to marry.

Churches issue marriage licenses?

It's not 'gay marriage', it's just marriage.

Equal. Nothing less.

Do folks get "gay arrested"? Do they have "gay breakfast"? Do they serve in the "gay police" or the "gay fire department"? It's about equality under the law. It's about the right to privacy. It's about freedom of religion. All things that good Conservatives SHOULD be standing for, and that so many are trying to distance themselves from the issue makes this Republican ashamed of the part and these candidates, with few exceptions...