Despite religious prejudice and the ick factor, the New York State Senate passed and the governor signed the same sex marriage act into law last night. It will take effect in 30 days. As many have quipped, now NY LGBTs will have all the hassles that other married couples have.
I think we should do away with marriage as the term which grants privilege and responsibility. Too many household families are no longer defined by the word. There are many configurations from single individuals to traditional families to grandparents rearing a child to children of divorce living with remarried parents to siblings to live-in care givers to roommates, etc. which constitute a household. People who live together for a period of time should be able to register as household families for tax and other legal purposes. People complained about the "marriage penalty" which was, in fact, the recognition that individuals living alone have more expenses than those who live as a family. Let's change our thinking to accomodate households as families now.
The women in the preceding post are a household family, aren't they?
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2 comments:
Yes! Yes! Yes!
Just as families from two generations ago often included grandparents, aunts, uncles, bachelor brothers and unmarried sisters, so today's families are different from mom, dad, and 2.2 kids. It's way past time to acknowledge that!
I hope Maryland follows suit the next time the question is put to a vote. One of our legislators objected on the grounds that marriage for for the procreation of children. As when our Aunt Cele (Catholic) and Uncle Charlie (Luterhan) got married in their 70's and the priest asked Charlie if he would raise any children Catholic! Charlie, a lifelong farmer, almost had a cow laughing.
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