To my social conservative friends and family members:
I support deregulation of marriage. Marriage is a social institution with a long history of redefinition. I do not believe that the federal government has any place in marriage.
The federal government should be involved with protecting individuals from unfair treatment by state laws: true. This should include ensuring that the status of "married" has nothing to do with approving or denying any benefit.
I am happy that, within the current social structure, the federal government of the United States has affirmed that gender should have no bearing on the eligibility of two people to marry. However, I believe that a greater victory would be removing "married" as a federally recognized status of any sort.
Accordingly, I celebrate with my brothers and sisters the newly-granted recognition of their unions across the entirety of this country while simultaneously mourning the continued involvement of the federal government in the private sphere.
