Alabama to ban marriage to stop gay marriage.

[The Alma Mater]

Regardless of its motives, this legislation was probably one of the most enlightening of the 21st century. It doesn't ban marriage, that's completely false. It simply makes marriage a contract between two consenting people, like it should've always been. Why should government be involved in marriage and decide who or who you cannot marry? Why should you require a government license to get married? You shouldn't. This bill doesn't discriminate and it simply replaces the function of marriage licenses with a marriage contract with identical legal standing. I'd like to see this happen worldwide.

With the end result that it is not a universally recognised contract ? Gone are your visitation rights when your partner is suddenly in a hospital abroad. Gone are your tax benefits. Gone is your inheritance because they did not make a will and that contract has no legal standing. Etc. Etc.

[Parhe]

Alabama to ban marriage licensing to stop gay marriage licensing.

I'm confused though. The article in the top states "In an attempt to prevent probate judges from arbitrarily refusing to sign couples' marriage licenses, the Alabama Senate voted 22-3 in favor of a bill that would allow couples to get married without first having to ask a government official for permission." That makes it sound this was done in favor of homosexual unions or marriages.

Regardless, as someone that is in support of gay marriage, seeing as I plan to enter one at some point, I like this marriage licensing. According to the article it has some reasonable limitations (limiting a person to only one contract at a time and just saying the contract has to be between two adults with no mention of sexuality or anything else) and all one needs is "a signature by a notary public, clergy member, or attorney" which seems reasonable enough.

I'm not getting why this is getting such a bad response from posters that, I assume, are reading the article.

[The Alma Mater]

So if I go to a Pagan temple, I should be able to get a gay marriage ?

I wonder if a judge can still officiate (or whatever it is caused).

I dunno. I just find it ironic that people who oppose gay marriage keep yelling "it is religious, get the state out" - while it being religious means that any religion can make its own definition of marriage and be equally valid.
So they are not only yelling for gay marriage (thank you pagans), but for polygamy, marriage to animals, marriage to children, arranged marriages, marriages to fictional characters, marriages to objects, marriages to onself etc. etc. All to "protect the sanctity".

[Pan Asian Amercian Coalition]

Oh, the American south. You would have to try to be more socially and economically backwards. Good BBQ and nice people, though.

[Garble lath-Insania]

I have a brilliant idea, why don't the alabamians attempt to ban thought? That would solve all of their problems right? Because no one would be thinking.....

WAIT ! , STOP, I WAS JOKING DONT ATTEMPT TO BAN THOUGHT!

[Pan-Dymaxis]

What's the big deal? Straight men can't marry straight or gay men either.

[Crezilivion]

What's the big deal? Straight men can't marry straight or gay men either.

At least they can't complain about "equality" anymore.

[Russels Orbiting Teapot]

What's the big deal? Straight men can't marry straight or gay men either.

Not yet they can't. Give it a month or two.

[Nazi Flower Power]

This sounds better than having judges refusing to sign off on same-sex marriage licenses, but I don't get why Alabama can't just get with the program and stop being homophobic.

Then they wonder why their state is used as a punchline in jokes....

[Threlizdun]

What's the big deal? Straight men can't marry straight or gay men either.

At least they can't complain about "equality" anymore.

At least conservatives can't pretend their opposition to same-sex couples has to do with defense of marriage rather than homophobia anymore.

[The Qeiiam Galaxy]

Alabama to ban marriage licensing to stop gay marriage licensing.

Instead couples will enter marriage as a contract and file it with the state and no state employee signs off on it.

http://truthinmedia.com/alabama-senate- ... licensing/


I think if this is the compromise needed to make the right comfortable with gay marriage then I think it is something other states should consider.

Truth in Media? That name alone makes me question its accuracy.

[The Huskar Social Union]

Complete height of utter nonsense.

[Risottia]

Alabama to ban marriage licensing to stop gay marriage licensing.
...
I think if this is the compromise needed to make the right comfortable with gay marriage then I think it is something other states should consider.

I wonder if now they will change the slogan on their number plates to "The State that officially hates marriage" now.

[Russels Orbiting Teapot]

This sounds better than having judges refusing to sign off on same-sex marriage licenses, but I don't get why Alabama can't just get with the program and stop being homophobic.

Then they wonder why their state is used as a punchline in jokes....

Maybe they couldn't let those judges refuse, get sued, and then be removed from the bench because they would have lost too much revenue from the erroneous speeding tickets and fines that those same ultra-conservative judges likely uphold against black people.

Just a thought, after the mention in the Justice Dept. report on Ferguson about the judge who they couldn't fire because they depended on the revenue that his racist rulings generated.

[Scandavian States]

I think its a Great idea Marriage is best left to the church no need for state interference.

So if I go to a Pagan temple, I should be able to get a gay marriage ?

Since it's contractual, I wouldn't think you'd have to be religious at all. But, yeah, go for it. Or, you know, you could get married in a church that supports gay marriage.

[Parhe]

This sounds better than having judges refusing to sign off on same-sex marriage licenses, but I don't get why Alabama can't just get with the program and stop being homophobic.

Then they wonder why their state is used as a punchline in jokes....

According to the article officially (though you can question their honestly if you wish) the reason is because of the issue before about some judges in some counties not granting the marriage licenses or whatever. They are hoping this way the couples wont be stopped from getting married by the whims of the judges. Seeing what happened earlier in Alabama this might actually be easier than forcing change onto the judges. Particularly if they are elected.

[Meridiani Planum]

I want to see what the legal side effects are of this change before I judge if this is a desirable change or not.

[Scandavian States]

At least they can't complain about "equality" anymore.

At least conservatives can't protend their opposition to same-sex couples has to do with defense of marriage rather than homophobia anymore.

Nice stereotyping. As a conservative, I don't give a crap who, what, or how many you fuck since it doesn't really have any effect on me. I don't think marriage of any sort is the business of the government. I'm actually quite interested to see if the so-called progressives will call it good with Alabama or if the whole gay marriage thing is a beard for intolerance towards religion.

[Scandavian States]

Gone are your visitation rights when your partner is suddenly in a hospital abroad.

How is this even a valid concern? People don't carry around marriage licenses and generally when you get married one or both partners change their last name. I can't imagine a state just handing over documents to a foreign government and presumably there will be a database to look up marriage contracts.

Gone are your tax benefits.

Meh, people should be paying an automatically deducted flat tax anyway.

Gone is your inheritance because they did not make a will and that contract has no legal standing. Etc. Etc.

Um, it's a law. Therefor it has legal standing. And I'm really wanting to see the citation, from the law itself, on this assertion.

[Bezkoshtovnya]

Then they wonder why their state is used as a punchline in jokes....

When your neighbor is Mississippi (which only ratified the 13th ammendment a few years ago IIRC), you gotta step up your game.

[Sociobiology]

how is what they are proposing any different than a marriage licence?

[Dakini]

Regardless of its motives, this legislation was probably one of the most enlightening of the 21st century. It doesn't ban marriage, that's completely false. It simply makes marriage a contract between two consenting people, like it should've always been. Why should government be involved in marriage and decide who or who you cannot marry? Why should you require a government license to get married? You shouldn't. This bill doesn't discriminate and it simply replaces the function of marriage licenses with a marriage contract with identical legal standing. I'd like to see this happen worldwide.

With the end result that it is not a universally recognised contract ? Gone are your visitation rights when your partner is suddenly in a hospital abroad. Gone are your tax benefits. Gone is your inheritance because they did not make a will and that contract has no legal standing. Etc. Etc.

I really wish that the obviously unmarried teenagers who go on about how eliminating government recognition of marriage would solve all the problems would bother learning the tiniest bit about marriage.


Also, Alberta threatened to do this back when Canada made gay marriage a thing across the board (though they threatened to just change the name of marriages to civil unions). Nothing came of it. I suspect that the same will happen here.

[Torisakia]

This sounds better than having judges refusing to sign off on same-sex marriage licenses, but I don't get why Alabama can't just get with the program and stop being homophobic.

Then they wonder why their state is used as a punchline in jokes....

But that requires us to change. We don't like to change.

I feel no matter what the state does, it won't have much success. If trying to allow same-sex marriage didn't work out so well I can't help but think that banning marriage all together would be any better.

[Rob Halfordia]

The first thing I did was check to see if the source was an article from The Onion. But it seems that is not the case... which is disappointing...

[Commonwealth of Hank the Cat]

Is this what it's come to? Seriously? This is America today?