Way to go Duluth for being the second city in Minnesota to be taking such a positive step forward!

Shame? Didn't know you were familiar with that concept, Danny.

So...you're check for 25 bucks is for personal/emotional reasons?  Tell you what, I'll give you a piece of paper that acknowledges your relationship and I won't charge you for it.  It will have just as much meaning as the one the local government is charging you for.  The only difference is I will admit 100% that I am for ALL marriage, not just BS partnerships that mean little to nothing.  Also, I won't be talking out both sides of my mouth, telling one group of citizens that I'm not trying to force gay marriage down anyone's throat while telling another group of citizens that this is an "important first step".


So, while we're in an economic crisis my advice is to save your 25 bucks on something more important than a useless sheet of paper.

I'll gladly discuss this with you, Paul.  But I want to see where you're coming from here.  Are you against marriage (gay and straight)?

Oh, and Paul, best comeback EVAR!

Nononono... I'm totally in support of equal marriage for gays as well as straight people. However, until that time is here, I'll support any progress made towards that goal.

Though I'm a big proponent of gay marriage, I'd have to agree with Paul that I don't really believe in marriage because of the financial/legal implications. An emotional commitment can be made at any time by anyone. When you involve the government, you are linked to your partner legally and financially.
Your husband took out a huge loan and defaulted on it? Guess what - both of your credit ratings are hosed! Your wife stole money from her business? Guess what - they can sue both of you!
As for me, the domestic partner registration is good enough (I don't need to stinking marriage!).
Alternatives to Marriage Project

Duuude, I was still replying to your questions... stop hitting F5 already! ;)

Jeff Anderson did not intend for the domestic partner registration to be anything more than it is: a symbolic commitment gesture that may assist in getting benefits that are currently granted to domestic partners. He never claimed it to be more than that.
A domestic partner registration is not good enough for those who desire marriage and cannot legally achieve it at this time. If gay and lesbian adults chose to be married, they must be offered full and complete marriage rights, the same as a straight couple.
Just because I choose not to get married, it doesn't mean that I won't stand behind others who do want to get married.

I think it's a bit obnoxious. My boyfriend/partner/whatever you wanna call him and I have been together for a while, and at first I was pretty excited about this... but is it really a step forward? It's like giving someone who is dying of thirst a 4 oz cup when everyone else gets swimming pools.

Oh, and I totally agree that my anti-marriage stance is partially due to my commitment issues.
I was married, and found out the hard way how much it sucks to have a husband that spends most of your money, charges up credit cards on your name, then causes your credit rating go down because he is a financial anchor. After coming to terms with that (well, and the fact that he's a stupid lying fuck-head), I find that I have to pay a lot of money to go through a divorce process in order to be legally and financially separate from him.
I now am lucky to be half of a partnership of two, with a lover to stand beside me, and a legal status of one, only beholden to myself.

Oh, and the anti-kid stance? It's cause kids are scaaaarryyyy!!!!!

Here's what I do: Wait til the partners in a given relationship die, then evaluate the status of their relationship retroactively. Everything else is bullshit anyway. Paper, license, taxes, gender, china patterns, legalities, etc. mean NOTHING compared to what the two people actually involved meant and did for each other. I still can't believe I have to explain this to people.... 
 I mean how long does the average marriage  (of any preference) last anyway? Not as long as the average dogs life, so what are you fucking worried about? I wanna marry a marigold, got a problem with that?

Great dialogue here, so I have to chime in.
If you are going to argue that people hide behind the equal marriage rights issue because of their fear of committment (i.e. I won't get married until gays have equal rights), I must present another underlying fear. 
I propose (no pun intended) that many people get married MAINLY because they fear the other person will leave them unless they are contracturally bound to each other. In other words, "Hey, if I am married to him and he leaves me, I have a legal contract to make him pay dearly for it". Or, "Hey, once we are married, I can be a dick or a total slack-ass and she can't do anything about it".
In that light, I would argue that people who AREN'T married but stay together are more committed to each other than you give them credit for.

I myself admit staying in a bad marriage far longer than I would have stayed in a bad relationship, just to avoid the giant pain in the ass that divorce is.
To stay with someone without any obligations or commitments, that is love.

Danny,
I agree actually, so no flack from me. Without going too far out on a tangent from the original post I would posit that as being part of the problem. We don't have a distinction between "shackin' up" for convenience and a committed partnership. That is why I think the registration of a "domestic partnership" is a step in the right direction, but I acknowledge it doesn't have any teeth or major difference in Duluth's current offering. To define the difference, however will be very tricky however, if not unpalatable.

1. This domestic partnership registration thing really doesn't give anybody anything. I'm not sure what it's supposed to accomplish. Although, I remember back in the '90s when Minneapolis set up the registrations we joked that is was just a way to make a list of queers so they could get back to us later when they were ready to stomp on us.

2. I agree with EKL that marriage is often used as a way to try to control the outcome of the relationship. It doesn't work that way. As a partner in a 24 year relationship I know everyday that I choose to be here. And marriage? Not for me, dude.

3. Nate: Yes. This really has nothing to do with giving same sex couples or unmarried straight couples any kind of rights at all. In my opinion it's all for show.