Re: OT: What? the clean-shaven outnumber the bearded? "Yer Ugly Mug," etc.

>>(My personal opinion: if you want children, get married then. If you don't
>>want children, don't get married. Marriage doesn't have many
>>advantages over defacto relationships anymore, at least here (Victoria,
>>Australia) (and defactos have the obvious advantage that you don't need
>>exactly one woman and one man).)
>
>Not in the Netherlands ;))) (although marriages are still limited to
>exactly two people ;))) ). And marriage still has some advantages over de
>facto relationships, especially when one member has a foreign nationality
>:)) .
Marriage still has major advantages in the USA - tax breaks, legal
recognition, nationalization of foreign born individuals, and more.

As a gay man, I've had to jump through hoops to ensure legal documentation
is in place and recorded to esnure, even after we've lived together 9 years,
such things as:
1. my partner being guaranteed access to me if I'm hospitalized.
2. my partner being recognized as my medical, financial and legal
representative in case I'm incapacitated by illness, accident, etc.
3. my partner being recognized as my heir if/when I die (though he would
still pay taxes a legal spouse would not) rather than my remote biological
family with whom I've not communicated since 1997.

All of these are assumed and accepted unquestioned when the couple has a
straight marriage. It burns me that I have to pay legal council to draw up
documents to recognize my relationship, yet it is granted without question
to any straight couple even if they've only known each other for a few
hours, and even defaults as common-law marriage after they co-habit for a
short time.

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