On the subject of Civil Unions,

   People who choose to make a commitment to each other should be afforded the same rights as anyone else no matter of their gender.  BUT...I feel those in favor of extending equal rights to all should try to come in the back door on this one, pun intended. Tasteless I know!

   I have been married for 35 years. I was married at a town hall by the city mayor. A thoroughly secular setting. Never the less, marriage through the ages has been prominently a religious ceremony. What needs to happen is, government needs to get out of the marriage business. Any 2 legal adults of whatever gender should be able to enter into a government granted civil union in order to receive the benefits or equal status in the work place.

   Marriage should only be considered something which is performed in a religious or ceremonial context. Whether it is a Christian Church, a Jewish church,  a Islamic mosque, or a secular service done while bungee jumping. It should be relegated to being a ceremony which has a personal meaning only. If there is a church such as the Universal Unitarian Church who wishes to offer its services to a gay couple, great!

The term “marriage” which roots are; arguably I admit, strongly based in religious doctrine. The time may be here for the government not be using the term "marriage". What the government should administer are, civil union licenses. The government needs to get out of the marriage business. It is not the word “marriage” in which we should be fighting for, it is equal rights. By changing the focus from gays wanting to change what the term marriage is perceived as, we should be focusing on changing the status of how our government should license legal relationships.

If civil unions were made to be equal with the rights and privileges of what is currently called marriage there should no longer be an argument to call it a marriage.

I for one would have not a single issue with having a civil union license over a marriage license. You can call it whatever you want! After obtaining a civil union license, nobody can stop anyone from using the term married no more than they can stop us from using wife or husband or better half, or squeeze.

So I hope the point I am making is, I believe this is the means to change the established view that, marriage is not the institution which the government should be recognizing, it should be a secular concept which should be crafted to accept a human couple of any gender. Marriage! It's a word! Let's get over it and get to the root of the issue, equal rights for committed couples, any race, any gender.