Marriage is a Civil Rights Issue. “Civil Rights” are rights that derive from “natural law” that is basic human rights that are fundamental to the human existence. Laws deemed to be obvious. To take an extreme casewalking is a civil right …it is hard to imagine any society that forbids its citizens to walk and forces them to crawl on all fours. Natural law is sometimes interpreted as God’s Law. Our founding Fathers interpreted it this way…but were careful to not called Jesus’ law…but rather God’s law because they did not want a state recognized religion.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Domestic partnerships. Let me avoid the word “marriage” for the moment because it is ill-defined and culturally determined, and, for many, emotionally loaded. I think Domestic partnership is an unalienable right granted by natural law. It is difficult to think of a society were two people are not allowed to set up a household, a domestic partnership, a family (loosely defined). Domestic households are the basic sub-unit of any society. The molecule if you will…I guess in this analogy the individual would be the atom. I can’t think of a society that does not allow the establishment of domestic households…in fact society depends on them…as has been painfully illustrated by the erosion of domestic partnerships in the American urban underclass.
In the U.S. , domestic partnerships are so valued that special rights and privileges have been granted to the domestic partnership…tax advantages, hospital visitation, inheritance etc. Some of these may be civil rights and some privileges. For the purpose of this discussion let’s just call all these government granted privileges .
In the U.S. we base our government on the premise from natural law that “all men are created equal”...separate but equal was tried and rejected. So, adhering to the civil right of equality --- all domestic partnerships should be treated equally. One group should not be singled out to receive economic and other privileges and advantages for domestic partnerships, while other groups are singled out to have those advantages with held.
So yes, gay domestic partnerships have the civil right to be recognized by the federal government in the same way other domestic partnerships are…….all men are created equal. This issues goes beyond the gay issue. An example is older people who want to set up a domestic partnership for financial and security reasons. Two older heterosexual widows for example. Even though it is a same-sex domestic partnership it is not sexual.

Marriage is a tricky term. It is culturally determined. Marring multiple wives, cousins, and even children is perfectly acceptable is many cultures and at different times. Gay marriage is accepted in many countries now. Marriage is defined by the various States in the U.S. And different States have taken different approaches. Our “social and cultural norm” regarding homosexuality is changing and evolving rapidly. As it does Individual State law will reflect those changes…in fact they already have.