Since there is such a great outcry from all those hurt by the Supreme Court's decision about the rights of same sex couples to be married, and all the religious people claim marriage is between one man and one woman, here is a proposal.
Since it seems to me that gay people have to have the right to get "married" because all the laws, tax codes, insurance policies grant to "married people" certain benefits, being allowed to be "married" grants to gay couples those same rights and privileges.
Now supposed all the language was just changed to "civil unions". All couple, gay or straight, would have to be "civil unioned" by the state. Being "civil unioned" would grant all couples gay and straight all the same benefits.
Any couple that wanted to be "married" would have to go to a religious group and have that group perform the ritual that blessed their civil union and made it a marriage.
I can understand why gays would not want civil unions if straight couples got married by the state. Gays want the same respect from the laws of this country as other citizens, but if all couples had to be civil unioned and that gave all of them the same rights and benefits, then the religious orders could do what they wanted about whether or not they would add the blessing to the civil union. Religious orders might conduct services they call marriage for gay couple or they might refrain from performing those services. The term "married" would designate that a religious group had blessed a civil union. Those who did not go to get a religious blessing would, gay or straight, be called civil unions.
The civil union suggestion was first made as an effort to appease the gays, but it did not satisfy because it was different from what straights got from the state. This way all couples get the same certificate and the same benefits, and those who want the religious stuff can talk to a religious leader.
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