Reply #51: Legally it's not the same benefits [View All]

[Ms. Toad]

Even if one state does a perfect job of matching right for right, a union (or whatever other than marriage you call it) has absolutely no legal meaning outside of the state (or other jurisdiction) that created it. Absolutely no meaning within the set of federal rights associated with marriage.

The legal overhaul that it would take to substitute a different word for marriage would require decades of work by state and federal legislative bodies and the courts, and by countless individual couples and advocacy groups as each case of first impression goes through the 50 state courts, and relevant federal courts. The costs would be enormous. For our adoption case, which went through two court levels and ultimately lost it cost over $10,000 (not counting legal work donated by Lambda). Even after the statutes are changed, that kind of work and money would be required for every single non-statutory right in every single state.