TruthNews Commentary, February 20, 2004

In all the debate over same sex marriage, there's something that everyone seems to have overlooked - same sex divorce. What happens when all of these happily married gay and lesbian couples discover something that many heterosexual couples discover - that they don't want to be married any more? Equality under the law is one thing, but do we really want to clog the courts up with more divorce cases?

There are only two reasons for requiring a government license for anything, whether marriage, driving, owning guns, or selling liquor. Those reasons are 1) tax and 2) regulate. This is something the gays and lesbians seem to have overlooked in their push for recognition of their marriage rights - do they really want the government to tax and (shudder) regulate their unions? In fact, most state governments have regulated gay marriages by prohibiting them. Now, proponents of same sex marriage are saying "less regulation" (i.e., allow same sex marriage) but regulate it nevertheless by requiring a license.

So what kind of regulation is proposed for gay marriage? Blood test? Waiting period? Minimum age? Parents' permission? Proof of previous divorce? I'm not sure why any gay or lesbian couple (or heterosexual couple for that matter) would demand to have their unions regulated. When states have dropped the requirement for a blood test before marriage, you didn't see a bunch of people showing up at the state capitol carrying signs saying "Give us blood tests or give us death."

In many ways, a marriage license is an anachronism. People shack up all the time without seeking permission from the government. They even have kids without a (marriage) license. Can you imagine the cops breaking into a house and arresting the occupants for living together without a license? And when was the last time you heard of a kid being referred to as illegitimate because his parents weren't married to each other?

Proponents of same-sex marriage argue that they shouldn't be denied the "benefits" of marriage. To which we reply, "what benefits?" Companies give benefits to spouses of employees for one reason only - to attract and retain good workers. If it's economically advantageous to the company to offer these benefits to "domestic partners," they can and will. Meanwhile, neither the federal nor state governments have succeeded in mandating that companies provide even basic medical coverage to employees, much less their dependents. Some companies do, some don't, but it's entirely because they decided it was in the corporate interest to do so.

Some opponents of same sex marriage argue that marriage is the way government promotes stable homes for children. This is a laudable objective, but you don't exactly see the government promoting it. "Promoting" implies advertising or economic incentive. In the case of marriage, you take time off from work, drive to a courthouse with no parking or pay parking, wait in line, fill out the forms, pay your tax, wait several days, and pay some one to perform the ceremony. Some incentive. And then, best of all, if both the man and woman work, they get to pay the IRS marriage tax, which can amount to several thousand dollars a year.

Of course, gay and lesbian marriage partners don't have to worry about the marriage tax because the federal government doesn't recognize same sex marriage (reference the Defense of Marriage Act, signed by then-President Bill Clinton in 1996). But of course, gays and lesbians are pushing to have the courts overturn this law so that they, too, can pay the marriage tax!

And then of course, there's divorce - an even longer, more expensive, and more painful process than getting married. The government may not promote getting married, but they do promote staying married. Prospective divorcees should expect to shell out at least a thousand bucks to lawyers and wait several months even with a no-fault divorce.

So do we really need same sex marriages? Perhaps the correct answer is the libertarian one - get the government out of the job of regulating people's lives and don't require licenses or taxes for any marriages. Religious people can have their marriages recorded by their church, the same as baptism (which, by the way, the government does not tax, license, or regulate, but it still works just fine). Gays can get married in the Episcopalian church. And everyone else can do whatever they want.

And while we're at it, let's get rid of requiring licenses for businesses and guns.