Beyond Marriage

So hooray for a sudden brief outbreak of literacy among the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court and the realization that when Alice and Bob can get papers from the state that Alfred and Bob can’t, that’s not equal protection under the law.

And hooray for this:

The generations that wrote and ratified the Bill of Rights and the Fourteenth Amendment did not presume to know the extent of freedom in all of its dimensions, and so they entrusted to future generations a charter protecting the right of all persons to enjoy liberty as we learn its meaning.

Those are some real fine words, Mr. Kennedy, a nice gloss on the under-respected Ninth Amendment; and I hope the court will take that idea seriously when it comes to better learning such dimensions of freedom as bodily autonomy and integrity, mental/neurological self-determination, anonymous communication, peaceful protest on public land, and self-defense against illegitimate police actions.

But I suppose that’s a rant for anther time. By all means, raise a toast if you like, change your Facebook profile picture to something rainbow if that’s your thing. Enjoy.

But later, maybe it should be time for a serious discussion: shouldn’t we be trying to get beyond marriage?

Shouldn’t we be moving towards a world where a variety of committed intimate relationships can be legally and/or spiritually recognized?

Obviously this is of concern to polyamorous people, people whose intimate relationships do not fit neatly into pairs but may extend into complex networks. But it’s also important to people taking care of a disabled adult relative, or to seniors who form mutually supportive partnerships or networks.

Families have never fit neatly into the molds the legal system provides. I know a couple who had a daughter, got divorced but remained close friends and involved parents. The mother remarried, the father never did, but he and the new husband became good friends, almost brothers. Other than his daughter the father has no family, no one closer to him than his ex-wife and her new husband. Shouldn’t there be some way to formalize that, to even bring it legal recognition?

If we can take a two-person domestic partnership based on sexual relations and elevate it to a social institution, why not other arrangements? We need broader domestic partnerships. Domestic corporations, perhaps.