Gay rights supporters define marriage as:
The voluntary, loyal and monogamous legal contractual union between two adults recognized by society is recognized by the government and/or society, giving them specific rights, treatment and responsibilities. These rights include economy, taxation, inheritance, the right to have children and the right to make medical decisions.
In short, it is to erase "one man and one woman" from the original definition of marriage. Supporters of this definition like it because it gets rid of the shackles of traditional concepts and uses modern moral concepts that value and respect individual rights to determine the legitimacy of same-sex marriage. If the society agrees, any relationship can be considered as "marriage", because even a legal marriage recognized by the state, religious organizations may not necessarily recognize it. In some countries, religious marriage and secular marriage go on at the same time; In other countries, religious marriage is legal only after the government issues documents or holds legal ceremonies.
In a country with a long tradition, marriage, as a basic social system, has not only the concept of "secular marriage" in the legal sense, but also the concept of "religious marriage" in the religious sense. In modern countries where politics and religion are separated, these two concepts belong to the jurisdiction of the state and the church; In the same country, there are some marriages, such as between pagans, between different races, between the same sex and so on. Perhaps only one party of the country or church recognizes it, but the other party does not, or some churches recognize it and some churches do not. Because conservative religious people object to calling same-sex marriage "marriage", the law adopts the name "civil union". Some scholars, such as AlanDershowitz, suggested that only the religious meaning of "marriage" should be retained, and the civil meaning of marriage, whether of the opposite sex or of the same sex, should be renamed as "civil union". However, conservatives believe that equating marriage with a civil contract itself is a threat to marriage.
In some countries or administrative jurisdictions, due to historical or public opinion reasons, it is opposed to giving same-sex couples the name of "marriage", but at the same time, in order to provide similar legal protection for same-sex couples, other forms of relations different from the name of "marriage" have been created, including:
Civil union: usually equal to or close to marriage in rights, but no marital status.
Or cohabitation and registered partnership: providing less rights than marriage to varying degrees. In some countries or jurisdictions, both heterosexuals and homosexuals can register as cohabiting partners.
Before the legalization of same-sex marriage in Britain, there was a "civil union" relationship that was completely consistent with the rights and obligations of marriage and open to same-sex couples. However, some people with the same rights refused to accept these unmarried titles, thinking that they were just a continuation of the policy of "separation but equality".
In countries or jurisdictions where same-sex marriages can be registered, same-sex couples can hold weddings. However, in places where same-sex marriage is not recognized, a ceremony similar to a wedding is called a "commitment ceremony". According to this ceremony, both parties establish a relationship and promise each other to fulfill their marriage obligations. However, this relationship is not recognized and protected by any law, and there is no family (such as the custody of children, some same-sex couples will adopt children), property (such as property, taxes, inheritance), and society (such as medical insurance, visits, making medical decisions on behalf of others, agency rights, etc.). ).)
From the end of the 20th century, 265,438 to the beginning of the 20th century, some movements demanding that marriage be extended to the same sex began to develop. Legally recognized marriage has developed a series of rights, including social insurance, tax payment, inheritance and other rights that are difficult to obtain from the perspective of unmarried couples. The legal recognition of marriage excludes the right of same-sex couples to choose and obtain these rights (heterosexual marriage without legal obstacles has the right to choose legal marriage and obtain these rights, while same-sex couples do not have this right). The lack of legal recognition of same-sex marriage also brings resistance to gay couples adopting children. Of course, it is not necessarily homosexuals who enter same-sex marriage.
Usually, opponents of same-sex marriage have religious backgrounds, and they think that extending marriage to same-sex couples may undermine traditional marriage values. In some countries that adapt to monogamy, people worry that allowing same-sex marriage may reopen polygamy legislation or many other unpleasant forms.
In this regard, supporters point out that the traditional concept of marriage has given way to liberalism in other fields, such as feasible no-fault divorce. After two Swedish women got married in Stockholm, the wedding participants also suggested that many people in modern society are no longer limited to telling them that marriage is a restricted religion, nor do they want these religious concepts to be used to make laws. In addition, some religions began to recognize and celebrate same-sex weddings or commitment ceremonies. In Canada, same-sex marriage has caused the division of religious groups. UnitedChurchofCanada, the country's largest Protestant Sect, and some Anglican churches expressed partial support for same-sex marriage.
Some liberals oppose same-sex marriage because they oppose all forms of marriage recognized by the state, including heterosexual marriage.
In view of the above objective facts, under the pressure of conservatives, legislators in some countries refused to recognize same-sex marriage but had to give consideration to the rights of same-sex couples, so they created a new law, namely civilunion, which is based on civil law and allows two same-sex couples to register as civil partners and provide similar or partial marriage rights. Some Dutch scholars believe that civil union is the primary stage of same-sex marriage, and it will eventually point to same-sex marriage. Please refer to the following table for specific countries where civil unions are legal. )