Originally posted by Karankawa
Why do you have to be married to be protected in death or retirement?? Can you not will to people that you aren't married to?

Mybe in the USA marriage is only symbolic in regard to the law, but in France it has a lot of practical consequences :
- married couples usually pay less taxes.
- if one person dies, the other pays less taxes upon the heritage ans automatically benefits from a certain protection (for example he/she cannot be thrown out a place which was owned by the other).
- a widow gets a pension if her husband dies under certain conditions.
etc…

There must be similar benefits to being married in the USA, aren't there ?

Well, we were talking about death and retirement benefits I thought, so let me address those first.

As far as I know, you pay the same amount of tax on inheritance regardless of whether you are married, related, a friend, or whatever status you have.

And about pension, you gain nothing if your spouse dies, not from the government. I think you are talking about life insurance possibly. Life insurance policies usually provide for a "life partner." And yes, that includes homosexuals.

You bought up taxes. In the US, married couples USUALLY pay less.

But you know what? I'm not interested in debating whether being married is beneficial or not. I'm interested in deciding if homosexuals should have the right to be married and be considered the same as a heterosexual couple. I'll reiterate that I think homosexuals are homosexual by choice, and therefore don't deserve to have special rights.

In most states spouses can avoid estate taxes on certain things, like the house and one or two cars. Some states also let the spouse opt to take a certain percentage of the estate regardless of what the will says. So there are some advantages. But you're correct - you can will your money to whomever you wish.

Maritial status is an advantage. That's too easy. But so what? That doesn't mean that homosexuals should get it.

Let's say for a minute that we decided to legalize homosexual marriages. What would stop every male/male and female/female roomate from declaring that they are homosexual and married simply to take advantage of the tax code? Who would blame them?

And presently what stops any male/female roomate to marry just to get these advantages ? Do you think there should be a control for all married couples to check they have sex regularly (once per week ? per month ?)

And presently what stops any male/female roomate to marry just to get these advantages ?

Nothing. But I have heard cases where a female would claim that she was "common law" married when she was a male's roomate, and gaining marital status that way. Wouldn't that be interesting if you found out that your same sex roomate was claiming that you were "common law" homosexually married to them? *smile!*

Karan...that sounds like a definition for justifiable homicide!