All Marriages are Civil Unions
All marriage is a legally binding written contract between two people who swear an oath to that contract in front of a qualified magistrate. All marriage begins in the courthouse, and all marriage that ends via divorce ends only within the courthouse. Marriage is therefore a judicial function. The U.S. Supreme Court decision in Romer v Evans ruled that no identifiable group of people can be fenced out of the Judicial system. Therefore, marriage between GLBT people is already legal, and must be allowed.
All Marriages are Civil Unions
©2013 by Dainna Cicotello
All through America, in all its towns, cities, counties and states, thousands of laws use the word marriage to confer upon people rights they would not otherwise have.
Marriage is defined in the first instance by state statutes. These statutes define the conditions and limitations of marriage; property, child custody, and inheritance rights; and the conditions under which marriage can be terminated. These conditions and limitations vary from state to state. Since the passage of the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996, federal law has defined marriage as the legal union of one man and one woman for federal and interstate purposes.
Because the term marriage is used in millions of legal definitions across America, it is crucial that everyone understand marriage is not just a word, not just a term, not just a custom of long standing, but a judicial concept.
Marriage is a legally binding contract between two people. The legal contract is signed by both parties. The signatures of the parties testify to the fact that they have read, understand, and agree to the terms of the contract. The signatures are notarized by someone authorized to do that work, and, in front of a magistrate or other qualified official, the two swear an oath to the contract they have just signed. This is the final step in the creation and validation of the contract.
All marriages begin in the courthouse, because marriage is a judicial function. The couple must go to the courthouse to obtain a license, which becomes part of the legally binding written contract.
Couples may further choose to have their marriage blessed or consecrated by a church– but the couple is not required to go to a church in order to complete the legal marriage contract. There are no religious requirements for getting married. Likewise, no church or religious organization can end a marriage. A church may remove its blessing or consecration or consider the marriage annulled, but this does not affect the legal contract. Divorce– legally breaking the marriage contract– happens only in the courthouse.
Therefore, every marriage is a civil union– a judicial act created via a legally binding contract agreement.
In 1996, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in Romer v. Evans that an identifiable group of people cannot be fenced out of the judicial / legal system. Therefore, it is settled law that the legal act called marriage MUST be made available to everyone. And because all marriages are first and foremost civil unions, the marriage contract– the legal elements of marriage– must be made available to everyone. That includes, gay, lesbian, transgendered, and transsexual people, and that government bodies MUST issue the licenses and allow, affirm, and acknowledge the legal contracts, whether religious blessings have been applied to the legal contract or not.