IS MARRIAGE A FORM OF DISCRIMINATION? Maggie Gallagher

[From CNSnews.com, full story HERE. The question these people raise is a valid one: What is it about marriage that qualifies it for distinctive treatment under the law? I don't think love is going to hold up as the explanation.]

"Singles' Group Calls Marriage Benefits 'Discrimination'
By Jeff Johnson
CNSNews.com Congressional Bureau Chief
September 23, 2003

Capitol Hill (CNSNews.com) - An advocacy group for single adults said Monday that federal and state laws and private employment policies designed to encourage traditional marriage constitute "discrimination" against those who cannot or choose not to marry.

Thomas Coleman - executive director of Unmarried America (UA), the membership division of the American Association of Single People (AASP) - believes there is no justification for government or private businesses to encourage or reward marriage.

'Marriage, number one, doesn't mean what it used to. It's not 'till death do you part;' probably half or more of the people will divorce, and many of them will be in multiple marriages throughout their lives,' Coleman said. 'So it's gross generalizations, vague and stereotypical, and really not helpful to good public policy, as far as I'm concerned.'

Data from the 2002 American Community Survey, released by the U.S. Census Bureau earlier this month, seem to support at least the first part of Coleman's claim. The research indicated that 49.4 percent of American households are headed by an unmarried adult.

The Census data also showed that of the 86 million unmarried American adults, 59 million share their primary residence with others.

'Most of the people live with somebody, in a household, in a family-type setting of some nature,' Coleman said. 'Yet, most of those families are not really recognized or properly valued by society, and the federal government does not recognize or value those families in the way that it should.'

UA wants federal and state legislation to counter the many laws, regulations and policies that it alleges "unfairly discriminate against people" based on their marital status, including:

Deferment of income and estate taxes on money and property left to surviving spouses not automatically available to survivors of an unmarried decedent's choice;

Employer-sponsored health insurance and other benefits offered to spouses and children of married workers that unmarried employees are not given for others of their choosing;

Inclusion of marital status as a rating factor for automobile, health and property insurance;

'At a time when we have almost half of the households in the nation being headed by unmarried adults, and it's going to be increasing to an unmarried majority,' Coleman argued, 'it's time for a comprehensive national policy prohibiting marital status discrimination in all forms, just like other types of discrimination are prohibited on the basis or race, religion, color, national origin, sex, disability and all of that.'

posted by maggie at 3:48 PM VOTE

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