# SSM column revisited

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ssm-column-revisited/258845>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [August 8, 2004, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ssm-column-revisited/258845 "2004-08-08T03:00:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\
**Post date:** [August 8, 2004, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ssm-column-revisited/258845/1 "2004-08-08T03:00:39Z")

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Now that SSM has been legal in a number of Canadian provinces for over a year, legal in Massachusetts for almost five months and perhaps on the verge of being legal in Washington, I’m wondering if Cecil would be interested in revisiting this [column](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/000128.html), particularly the bit about the danger of same-sex college roommates waltzing in to the license bureau and obtaining a license.

Any statistics available on the number of wise-acre college roommates who’ve sought out those licenses, Cecil? Have any wise-acre roommates in Vermont entered into civil unions there? How about in Canada or other countries which recognize either marriage or some form of partnership?

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**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\
**Post date:** [August 8, 2004, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ssm-column-revisited/258845/2 "2004-08-08T11:59:37Z")

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I’m not sure what you’re driving at, here, **Otto.** The question was about marriage in general, and what role it serves. Cecil was positing a hypothetical, suggesting a possible “slippery slope” where marriage might not even be about conjugal relationship (regardless of gender). He was not arguing statistics or practicality. And since, even in the states that currently permit same-sex marriages, there’s still an assumption that marriage is something more than simply rooming together, I don’t see how you can expect to find statistics?

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**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\
**Post date:** [August 9, 2004, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ssm-column-revisited/258845/3 "2004-08-09T03:33:57Z")

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Well, he expressed his concern over the “tricky issue” of straight roommates demanding marriage licenses presented by SSM. I’m just wondering if this issue has actually arisen in any jurisdiction in which either SSM or some form of civil union or domestic partnership has been recognized.