Quote Originally Posted by redfox View Post
Thus for me, marriage is a contract between three parties: two adults and the state. I don't care what the gender identities of those adults are, any more than care about their racial, ethnic, religious identities, their physical, economic, family or political status. If a childless Republican Pagan wants to marry a Catholic parent of 12 and live as a transgendered couple, who the heck am I to care? I care if they stop at the red light, encourage their children to be kind to others, pay their taxes, vote in our elections, and laugh at my jokes.
I agree with this except that I don't believe the state should be an equal party in the contract. It's only goal should be to arbitrate disputes arising from the other two parties and not be involved in the validity of the contract itself.

In my mind, the only real question in the entire debate is, if we think the state should be a party to the contract, do we have an expectation that it will approve all forms of marriage or are some restrictions right and proper?