What to do about the Prop 8 mess.

Here is my opinion on how to handle this Prop 8 disaster.

Introduce a referendum that would eliminate the word "marriage" from the Constitution. Replace all instances of "marriage" with "domestic partnership". This will do one of two things:

1. It will solve the problem outright. Since the fundamental argument about marriage is that it is first a foremost a sacred religious rite, it keeps the term "marriage" in the church, and brings the all-encompassing "domestic partnership" into the socioeconomic and legal understanding of the idea.

2. It will cause the fundamentalists to stand up in outrage and refuse to allow the term "marriage" to be lessened by the term "domestic partnership". In doing so, they will ultimately prove the inherent problem: "domestic partnership" is both separate, AND unequal to "marriage". Therefore, as determined by Brown vs. Board of Ed., all couples must be allowed to marry.

The argument is also thus: If marriage is first and foremost a sacred institution, those who are married in non-religious ceremonies (gay or straight) must also not be allowed to use the term "married," nor be subject to its benefits. Inversely, any gay couple who is married by any minister of faith MUST be required to register as a married couple under the law, as their institution was religious.

Bottom line: Stop screaming at people. It's much more effective to move toward something, make THEM scream, and then follow it up with "Oh but you said..."

What to do about the Prop 8 mess.