Reply #3: It Isn't

[REP]

It's an obsolete system of establishing male ownership of female fertility and offspring. It's obosolete in part due to new reproductive technologies and the acceptance of both adoption and single parenthood; it's also offensive to legally give ownership of fertility to another. It's an archaic system of going before a magician to get the blessings of a religion and the state to screw. It is a cumbersome arrangement that's expensive to get out of.

I support abolishing legally recognized marriage. Those who wish to may undergo a private religious rite that would be given no morer legal standing than bar mitvahs or first communions. I do support legal standing for civil unions between consenting adults.