In 1878, the United States Supreme Court protected the right of the federal government to make bigamy a crime. In the case of Reynolds v. United States, a Morman claimed that polygamy, the acquiring of several wives, was his religious duty. The Court ruled that since such conduct was in violation of social duties, the state could prohibit it. No legal challenge to this right to enforce the social duties of marriage has since been successful. The recent victory of same-sex couples in Vermont raises the specter that some reform minded polygamist may now decide to raise this argument once again in court, perhaps with a different outcome.
Laws often have unintended consequences.
One answer is that state governments provide certain benefits to legally married couples, benefits that homosexual couples now covet. This is the basic issue that was addressed by the Vermont Supreme Court. The following list outlines marital benefits that are recognized by most states. These are benefits that homosexual couples and cohabiting heterosexual couples have never been legally permitted to share. Homosexual couples argue that if they are not legally permitted to marry, as the heterosexual couples would be, the government should provide some other means of granting these benefits to them.