Opinion:   “Domestic partnerships and civil unions are just a "stepping stone" to legalizing gay marriage. In states that have compromised by protecting marriage while leaving the issue of domestic partnerships open, bills are filed in the legislature every year to give legal status to domestic partnerships. Legislators have to deal with the issue over and over again.



Fact:   Legislators introduce legislation in response to public needs. If legislators "have to deal" with the issue of gay marriage repeatedly, it's probably because the issue is important to a segment of the citizenry. This is what lead Representative Forrester to introduce a bill eight consecutive years asking legislators to “deal with” this amendment in North Carolina. Presumably he was responding to at least a small but vocal part of his constituency.

Also, if lawmakers create a half-baked solution to a non-existent problem, they can expect challenges to it. This is how democracy works. People challenge laws which are unworkable, flawed, or are contradicted by facts. If women had been given the right to vote in every third election, women would have continued to challenge that until they were given the full, complete right. "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was a half-baked solution, and was challenged repeatedly until it sank under the weight of its own flaws.