(May 10, 2014 at 11:47 pm)Cthulhu Dreaming Wrote: Perhaps - but the reality of the situation is that in this country, marriage is very much a matter of civil law - and as long as that is the case, it is the duty of the government to ensure that all persons have equal treatment under the law.
Not always. There are exceptions. A state may discriminate when there is a legitimate government reason for enactment of a discriminatory law. When the judge claimed no rational reason for the law, he was saying it didn't satisfy a rational basis review.
The rational basis is this: Heterosexual unions offer the most value to the state therefore the state has a reason to incentivize heterosexual unions by granting them a special status.
