My community supports same sex-marriage and I support my community's quest for equality in marriage, however my personal preference is for domestic partnership laws.

My Catholic catechism classes and Bible readings have taught me that the primary intent of marriage is for procreation between a woman and man.

In all female-male relationships, there is a fundamental biological desire to procreate which is present even when the couple are unable to reproduce. This desire is what differentiates same-sex relationships from opposite-sex relationships.

Marital case law is based on this desire. Since this desire is not present between same-sex couples, current case law would be inappropriate. If marriage is redefined to include same-sex couples, then the courts would have to redefine much of the existing law in order to render just results. This would weaken the protections, intended by the law for families.

In the same way that women and men are different but equal, our relationships are different but equal to yours. Further expansion of marital law shoud be under domestic partnerships where consensual sexual relationships between two adults would be honored, as equal, in the eyes of the law.

Sheila Richardson
Bellingham WA