I think of marriage as a legal institution that's necessary given other components of our society, everything from visitation rights to our outdated custom of patrilinear descent (surnames coming from the male, or the child is a bastard). Sometimes, especially when kids are involved, the tax and insurance benefits really are a big help, even necessary (even when alternatives exist, they tend to be more complicated and expensive than marriage--well, more expensive not counting what the sweet deal the marriage industry has).
I'm a big supporter of marriage equality both for its own sake, but also because people will be self-righteous assholes who will do the most heartless and cruel things if legally allowed, even in the uncaring medical profession, so that protection that comes from marriage equality is necessary because of other unfortunate elements of society. And I mean true marriage, not "civil unions" or some other BS term meant to make people feel better about themselves for making sure society can legally mistreat a minority by creating a false alternative that doesn't hold the actual protections of a legally binding marriage.
This history of it interests me from a sociological point of view, and I marvel that some people don't realize how radically marriage has changed over the ages (and still varies widely culture to culture), as well as the expectations of it. I expect that won't interest people more interested in faerie tale weddings.
The marriage industry won't be profiting from me, though, but they've got a society of others who will keep them paying ridiculous prices (some aspects I understand, but I'm amazed at how conditioned society is to pay so many outrageous unnecessary fees to "prove" one's love, as in it's frowned upon if you recruit someone you know to do something very simple like manage the music rather than hire a professional at inflated prices, at least if people believe in the big "dream wedding" which is pointless consumerism at its finest, save maybe for the funeral industry). If I ever did get formally married (and one time I figured I would, but I doubt that now) then it would be something like a handfasting ceremony with the appropriate legal papers filled out.
(Speaking of which, I wondered how Xander's family felt about paying a fortune--at least for them--for a wedding that never happened in season 6 Buffy.)
I'd also like to point out that I spent a lot of my childhood switching back and forth between my grandmother's home and my parent's. My grandmother has never been married in her life. While she made mistakes in raising her kids before I was born (just like married parents), she learned from them and provided a more secure and loving home for me than my highly dysfunctional parents even when they were married. I point this out because some people think marriage provides a better environment which isn't necessarily true, and also saying that I've seen the the damage inflicted by society on "bastards" (since all of Granny's children were bastards by default, over a pointless custom left over from when women were property rather than people).
SIGH. Now I'm thinking of just deleting this without posting. But you did ask for our views and I already typed it out, so here goes.
