# What is the argument against "separate but equal" civil unions?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-argument-against-separate-but-equal-civil-unions/704764>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [November 16, 2014, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-argument-against-separate-but-equal-civil-unions/704764 "2014-11-16T13:37:28Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 57

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\
**Post date:** [November 16, 2014, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-argument-against-separate-but-equal-civil-unions/704764/57 "2014-11-16T23:07:01Z")

</div>

> [@Miller](#):
>
> Inanimate objects can’t own property. Nor can they give legal or medical consent. None of the benefits of marriage can be exercised by inanimate objects. So if some crazy lady wants a marriage license with her name and Westinghouse on it, who cares? The paper is legally meaningless, because one party is physically incapable of enjoying any of the rights associated with marriage.

Why does any of this matter? We all agree that we are throwing the traditional meaning of the word “marriage” out the window, so why do your objections stand in the way of “progress”?

Plus, as we learned from Loving v. Virginia, marriage is a fundamental right. Why would you deny this woman legal recognition of her marriage to the washing machine? What constitutional basis do you have for denying cleanlosexuals their choice of happiness?

You are denying cleanlosexuals equal protection under the law.

---

_[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-argument-against-separate-but-equal-civil-unions/704764)._