Gay marriage is not the issue

I was listening to Jay Severin's program tonight, and as often happens, he brought up the topic of gay---er, I mean "ho-ho-homosexual"---marriage. As far as I heard, he didn't bring up one talking point that he has mentioned in the past, which is that the government should get out of the marriage business altogether.

Having a lot of gay friends makes me very sensitive to the issue of gay rights. While I see the pure logic in the position that gays are not being discriminated against because they can in fact get married just like anyone else---though only to a member of the opposite sex, just like anyone else---that is not only something of a cop-out, but more importantly it seems to miss the point.

To me, the point is that the government should not have such control over our lives that people see any significant need to petition for a privileged status from the government (in this case "marriage"). The fact that marriage confers a multitude of benefits, including those related to taxation, entitlements, and personal liberty, is to me yet another sign that government simply wields too much power. The recent issue of marriage rights for gays is merely a logical consequence of the privileges given by politicians to selected groups with whose favor they wish to curry.

Why does government need to be involved with marriage at all? If we'd get rid of the income tax, or turn it into a flat tax, the vast majority of the reason for government stamps of approval on marriages would disappear. Contrary to the fears of many family-values and nativist conservatives, I suspect straight people would not stop marrying or having children, but they would be doing it for the right reasons and without requiring the approval of people whose first amendment rights to free association are being violated by forcing them to validate marriages with which they disagree.