“Would you be married if the state refused to give you a license, but you got married in the church without it?”
My sweetie & I have lived together since ‘97. He’d been married 4 times before; I never have. I’ve always assumed we would be treated as ‘common law’ husband & wife if any issue ever came up. We have therefore avoided the license & the penalty with the same result before the law.
I think the judge’s ruling was wrong, simply because we’ve limited what comprises marriage before, when Mormons were prohibited from taking multiple wives. Why should things change now? I do have gay friends who want to be married, but a civil union or a domestic partnership agreement should be more than sufficient these days. And even they admit that gay relationships are very tenuous. Most of their friends have not been able to sustain a long-term relationship. Just more work for divorce lawyers, if you ask me.
It used to be illegal to cohabitate without a marriage license. They would arrest you. That made having a marriage license make sense. A Mormon can now have as many women in his bed as they all agree to without any risk of jail, just as long as he "doesn't" get a license. That is illogical.
What other act requires a license, but is perfectly legal if you don't get the license????