You are exactly right, mbp. If they want a civil union, I believe that should be allowed, regardless of sex. If 2 people love each other to that extent, let them have some legal standing. But, marriage as such is a religious thing.

Personally, I could care less if Bob and Joe want to shack up and show their commitment to each other, just don’t do it in a “marriage”. I don’t know the legal definition of a marriage but I have always assumed that marriage in the truest sense of the word was a religious ceremony. And of course we have to keep church and state separate. I say if you want to be husband and husband fine, just don’t call it a “marriage”. Jim and Bill have every right to be as unhappy as the rest of us married folk.