Yuyutsu,

I still think marriage between a man and a women is a good thing. I've abided it for 50 years. But, it doesn't work out for everyone, particularly these days when many people think it's all anout 'me'.

Here's a cynical take on marriage I saw recently:

"Thinking of getting married? Better not to, you’ll get taken to the cleaners when it comes unstuck, because courts and the social services favour women, don’t they? Go for the one-night stand instead, although even this option is now fraught with difficulty, because that coy ‘no’ that means ‘yes’ will be alleged subsequently to have meant ‘absolutely no way’, and you’ll be on a rap for rape".

Hi Foxy - thank you for the kind words. Actually I have been a member of this forum for 3 or 4 years - I hardly comment because certain responders are incredibly rude and seem to think they own the forum. I do read what is written, however, and have always admired your considered and polite contributions.

Belly - and thank you for your response also, it's appreciated when people of differing opinions don't rant. We can agree to disagree, but I have no doubt there are many other things we can laugh together about.

Dear HereNow,

A sense of humour certainly helps.

I look forward to reading more of your posts in
the future.

Dear Ttbn,

«I still think marriage between a man and a women is a good thing.»

And I certainly agree - but in the context of this discussion, why should a couple even inform the government about their love and marriage, let alone ask them for a piece of paper that recognises it?

Now here we have [heterosexual] couples who foolishly informed the government about their intimate affairs, now the government changed a definition and they cannot get out of something they never agreed about.

Suppose you are a seller who signed a sale-contract where the "definitions" section states that the '$' sign designates Australian dollars (AUD). How would you feel if the buyer comes and overwrites that section saying that '$' means Zimbabwean dollars (ZWD) - that's what they did to all pre-existing marriage certificates!