As you’ve undoubtedly heard, California’s Supreme Court has ruled that “Limiting the designation of marriage to a union ‘between a man and a woman’ is unconstitutional and must be stricken from the statute.” As you undoubtedly know, this pisses a lot of people off. Maybe it pisses you off.

It certainly irks Protect Marriage, a group that hopes to amend California’s constitution to specifically limit the definition of marriage.¹ Their proposed amendment:

SECTION 2. Article I, Section 7.5 is added to the California Constitution, to read:

Sec. 7.5. Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.

Here’s my proposal: the government needs to get out of the marriage business. Instead, it should recognize a legal partnership, a collective comprised of two consenting adults that the law affords unique abilities (shared ownership, altered taxation, legal status as family, etc.). Such a partnership would carry no romantic relationship or religious meaning. Rather, it would be a legal commitment. Romantically interested adults, widowed sisters who would like to consolidate their finances and legal status, best friends who choose to make a life together—all would be considered equal under the law.

Would you like to be [insert word for religious coupling of two or more people here]? Please do so in the way that your tradition deems appropriate, barring a small number of restrictions (consenting adults only, please). If your organization chooses to discriminate against people in matters that in no way concern the law, cool. But you don’t get to tell anyone who isn’t a voluntary participant in your organization what to do.