What's to stop you?

[joe hx]

Gay marriage question -

Say gay marriage is not legal. What would happen if two gay guys (or girls) got together, went through ceremonies and stuff, and **said** they were married? There'd be no marriage certificate, license, or whatever. Would they get fined? Jail time?

Just a thought.

[crashhelmet]

The only punishment they could possibly receive would be if they filed their taxes as joint/married. I don't know of anything else that it would affect them with a financial or criminal penalty.

The benefits to having a legal marriage though are numerous. They'd get the rest of the "rights" that married couples have had for years. President Obama just released a memo today to give them some of those benefits.

Obama orders hospital visitation rights for gays, lesbians

But back to your original question, I can't think of anything more outside of taxes where fines or jail time could come into play. Others might know.

CH

[Plaidman]

Yeah. My cousin calls her wife, wife and they are married. Same with my pal and his husband. To them, their married.

The only thing thats's wrong, is they don't get the benifts of marriage. Like if one is dying in the hospital, his husband cannot be with him since he isn't family. Or get any benifts from insurience, military, whatever. They have no rights equal to what a man and wife can get. Its total bullshit. There is nothing wrong with love. But so many damn people want to go noooooo thats grooooooooooooosssssss.

[draggar]

Or get any benifts from insurience, military, whatever. They have no rights equal to what a man and wife can get.

In the US many companies are now offering "domestic partnership"
benefits for people who are living together but are not married (same or opposite sex).

There is nothing illegal with having a marriage ceremony with no marriage document (I'm sure even straight couples do this - it's the paper that makes you legally married, not the ceremony.

[Ghel]

Some other things that you get by being legally married:

You automatically inherit the spouse's estate, unless there's a will that states otherwise.

When one of you has a child, the spouse is automatically listed as the other parent on the birth certificate (with all the legal rights and responsibilities that go along with being a parent).

In community property states, the spouse automatically co-owns real estate (and sometimes, other property) purchased by the spouse.

Yes, marriage is a legal contract. Gay couples can get around this by setting up various agreements, but they have to hire an attorney to do so, which costs a lot more money than a marriage certificate.

[BookstoreEscapee]

There's nothing to stop anyone from saying they're married. As long as they aren't doing it to defraud anyone, why should anyone care?

[Hobbs]

Some other things that you get by being legally married:

You automatically inherit the spouse's estate, unless there's a will that states otherwise.

When one of you has a child, the spouse is automatically listed as the other parent on the birth certificate (with all the legal rights and responsibilities that go along with being a parent).

In community property states, the spouse automatically co-owns real estate (and sometimes, other property) purchased by the spouse.

Yes, marriage is a legal contract. Gay couples can get around this by setting up various agreements, but they have to hire an attorney to do so, which costs a lot more money than a marriage certificate.

About the birth certificate thing...I thought it only listed the biological parents. That said; if two women have a child together, does the other woman become listed as "father"?

[Nyoibo]

Works the same with adoption too though... I think.

[BookstoreEscapee]

t's the paper that makes you legally married, not the ceremony.

I remember an episode of Night Court (how old am I?!) where there was some drama (I don't remember what) about a couple that wanted to get married; in the end all the judge did was sign the certificate and basically say, "here you go!"

The only thing thats's wrong, is they don't get the benifts of marriage. Like if one is dying in the hospital, his husband cannot be with him since he isn't family. Or get any benifts from insurience, military, whatever. They have no rights equal to what a man and wife can get. Its total bullshit. There is nothing wrong with love. But so many damn people want to go noooooo thats grooooooooooooosssssss.

I read semi-recently a post somewhere (fark.com, I think) in a gay marriage thread. Someone was arguing that "you can have civil unions, you get all the same rights as a marraige, why isn't that good enough?" and this guy wrote that he did have a civil union, and when his partner died in the hospital, his civil union certificate was not good enough for the hospital to even let him pick up his partner's clothes and other belongings, nor for the DMV to transfer the title to the partner's car into his name. They wanted a marriage certificate. That makes me angry. (My response to the "why isn't civil union good enough?" question: "is it good enough for you?")

[Wingates_Hellsing]

A better answer is: "Because it isn't."

They like to pretend that Civil Unions are carbon copies of marriages but that's quite simply not the case. The only way to truly provide equal rights is to extend the same, exact rights to everyone.

[AdminAssistant]

They like to pretend that Civil Unions are carbon copies of marriages but that's quite simply not the case. The only way to truly provide equal rights is to extend the same, exact rights to everyone.

Separate but equal didn't fly in the 50's and it don't fly now.

[KnitShoni]

About the birth certificate thing...I thought it only listed the biological parents. That said; if two women have a child together, does the other woman become listed as "father"?

A lot of states make the assumption that the husband is the bio father.

[HYHYBT]

The only thing thats's wrong, is they don't get the benifts of marriage. Like if one is dying in the hospital, his husband cannot be with him since he isn't family.

Fixed, or will be shortly.

The only way to truly provide equal rights is to extend the same, exact rights to everyone.

The right to the terminology (you know, plain English words like "husband," "wife," "spouse," "wedding," "married," etc.) is, itself, one of the rights of marriage. If I introduce someone to you as my husband, well, I'd be lying but ignoring that point, you'd know precisely what I meant even if you didn't agree with it. If I call him my partner, that could be a business partner, or a civil union partner, or a no-recognition-but-we-mean-it partner, or just a boyfriend, or even something like a tennis partner. "Married" doesn't have a good equivalent either. And that's all assuming that it really is only the terminology that's different: in reality, there's always more because the ONLY reason to apply a separate name in the first place is as a way of saying "you're still not *really* equal even if the law says we have to treat you as such."

I really ought to copy that to a file one of these days; I try not to, but I wind up saying the same thing in nearly the same words every time the question comes up.

[smileyeagle1021]

I read semi-recently a post somewhere (fark.com, I think) in a gay marriage thread. Someone was arguing that "you can have civil unions, you get all the same rights as a marraige, why isn't that good enough?" and this guy wrote that he did have a civil union, and when his partner died in the hospital, his civil union certificate was not good enough for the hospital to even let him pick up his partner's clothes and other belongings, nor for the DMV to transfer the title to the partner's car into his name. They wanted a marriage certificate. That makes me angry. (My response to the "why isn't civil union good enough?" question: "is it good enough for you?")

Not only is there the obvious issue of that it doesn't actually have all the rights and benefits as a marriage license, there is the problem that a civil union is ONLY valid in the issuing state, marriage (at least between a man and a woman compliments of limp dick Clinton's so-called defense of marriage act) is valid in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

[Ghel]

And there's the question of where does a same-sex couples get divorced.

Back in October, I heard about a gay couple that got married in Massachusetts, then moved to Texas for work. Things didn't work out, so they filed for divorce. Governor Rick Perry tried to oppose the divorce, saying that if Texas recognized the divorce of a same-sex couple, that means recognizing their marriage, too. Luckily, the judge didn't see it that way. She allowed the divorce, and ruled the Texas law that bans gay marriage unconstitutional.

Wikipedia has a little snippet on it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_p...n_2_%282005%29