Marriage is a civil relationship with important legal, economic and emotional consequences. It serves to identify our primary relationships other than blood relationships, a fact that becomes most important in times of crisis. Married people are permitted to visit their husbands and wives in the intensive care units of hospitals. Marital status usually determines whether a person can take unpaid sick leave to care for a critically ill partner. It can determine inheritance.
Married people can usually pool their incomes to qualify for home loans.
In short, the law recognizes that because marriage is an enduring personal bond, it should be used to distribute taxes, insurance and a host of other things fairly. All Americans are guaranteed equal protection under the law by the United States constitution. That is why the law should not deny such recognition to lesbian and gay people. While the ACLU strongly defends the right of religious groups to determine which marriages they sanction, we believe just as strongly that it is not the proper role of government to dictate who should or should not be allowed to marry.