[Epona]

I don't personally hold with the notion of marriage. It has arisen historically and was primarily an act passing ownership of a daughter to another man when she came of age. It was more to do with a business agreement involving inheritance of land than with the notions of love and loyalty we connect with it today. Although I'm too young to remember it, if my facts are correct it is only fairly recently in historical terms that women have been able to have their own bank account in the UK without permission of a father or husband!

Another issue for me - I do not feel that the state has any place or role in determining the private relationships of anyone. Legal marriage is an act of state sanction of a private relationship. I do not feel that this should be an issue for the state.

I have never been married, but have been 'de facto' or 'common law' married, in that I lived with a partner for 11 years. As I was a Civil Servant at the time, this granted me a few potential work related benefits (the entitlement to relocation expenses if my partner at the time was compulsoraly relocated, widows pension if he died in service, that sort of thing). The state however does not recognise common law marriages in the same way as legal marriages, unless they benefit rather than the couple - if you are in a common law marriage for example and are claiming benefits those benefits are claimed as a married couple and therefore lower than the single state benefit and if your partner is working you get nothing, but your common law partner is not legally your next of kin and will not automatically inherit your estate should you die intestate. Mortgage tax relief was also only given to legally married couples, not common law.

Having said all that, I feel it is not contradictory of me to say that I would wish anyone who was wanting to marry for whatever reason every happiness. I do feel though that your choice of partner, partners, gender and sexuality issues, and how you want to conduct your relationship should be entirely personal, and not subject to state legislation of any kind.