Houellie,

I think it stems from the formative years. We're encouraged to operate within strict boundaries. We seek acceptance and approval within the competitive limits of those boundaries, so much so that it's beyond the imagination of much of society to fly on their own - do their own thing - without some sort of stamped societal approval and recognition.

That's the part that worries me a little too, Poirot.

>>We seek acceptance and approval within the competitive limits of those boundaries, so much so that it's beyond the imagination of much of society to fly on their own - do their own thing - without some sort of stamped societal approval and recognition<<

There seems to me so little logic in the arguments on either side.

If a heterosexual couple go through a civil ceremony - even just by fronting up at the registry office with a couple of witnesses - they become man and wife. They are married. End of story.

The only possible motive for gays to push any other marriage barrow is... what?

You want a "wedding"? Sure, why not. Probably best if only one of you wears that silly white dress, but otherwise no issues.

You want a "church wedding"? Sure, if the church will allow it. But you shouldn't be able to force the church to perform the ceremony (or the government forbid it, for that matter). It is their choice, just as a synagogue can refuse to marry using the Greek Orthodox ceremony. If the religion is against it, so be it. It's a reflection on the religion, after all, not the marriage.

Given the legal issues concerning property etc. are equal, what is the fuss about? Wedding dresses are pretty much the most ridiculous outfit ever invented, anyway.

The objections are also a nonsense. Heterosexual couples aren't, on the whole, particularly good advertisements for the institution, given the divorce rate, so the "lifelong devotion" bit is a red herring, as is the "purely for the children" part. Allowing gay couples to describe themselves as "married" isn't exactly going to cause the end of the world as we know it.

"I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened." - Obi-Wan Kenobi

I'm with Houellebecq on this one, all the way.