Gay marriage, Civil unions, Domestic Partnerships

Item the first: Marriage IS a traditional male-female affair.
Item the second: This does not mean those that do not fit the traditional pattern should be excluded from the legal and civil benefits. (The religions benefits are up to God, and if he chooses to bless gay marriages or heterosexual marriages, it's not like a name matters.)
Item the third: Marriage is a religious institution. It is one the government needs to get out of.
Item the fourth: The 'family' is broken. There are many chosen families that have nothing to do with sex. I myself have a 'chosen family' as well as my birth family.

The government needs to start acknowledging family groups of all shapes and sizes, even the non-sexual ones. The government needs to allow chosen next of kin. The government needs to start doing civil unions for all and sundry, making people legally related to each other, without the religious OR sexual overtones.
Marriage should be a cultural convention, not a legal one.

Thank you.