Reply #44: There's a FEDERAL DEFINITION to marriage.

[MADem]

And to make matters worse, we have that stupid DOMA. Civil unions for gay folk would be both separate and unequal.

Even if states recognize marriages, the feds don't have to--and they're not. Massachusetts has "marriage" but it doesn't help at the federal level.

I don't know what the future of marriage is; all I know is that back in the day, the only "unwed mothers" I knew lived in Jamaica and Europe! Now, most young mothers I meet nowadays, though, haven't bothered to "tie the knot." Heck, we've got a few in the family -- and that would have been UNHEARD OF back in the day.

IF this keeps up the issue will be moot, or it will be overtaken by some sort of popular demand.