Could be Better, Could be Worse

Got an email from a friend of mine today that I think is worth sharing:

Once again, marriage is causing me to be rather confused...this time it is
"marriage by proxy". Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill into law
allowing military personnel stationed overseas in a war or conflict and
unable to appear in person to marry through a legal stand-in or proxy. The
gubernator made this California law on Friday and ushered in a new era of
weddings. So with a cell phone and a stand-in (I will return to this
later), any soldier can wed his American sweetheart whilst away killing
people.
...
Second point, this California bill was formed and pushed through by a single
family that happened to have the hook up to a federal judge who happened to
have the hook up to several state senators...etc...etc...and guess what,
they didn't push this through so that the two people involved could
celebrate a holy and sacred union (fitting for such a cornerstone of our
society...such a sacred institution...), but rather so that the wifey and
soon to be born baby (you heard me right, she is about to pop any day now)
can qualify for benefits under the military and, god forbid, the hubby dies
while at war, then they would qualify for death benefits. So the push to
make this California law was just a financial move to ease the cost of
childbirth and to secure monetary insurance for the likely event that the
new husband is killed. So even if we discount the whole marriage by proxy
idea as a perverting factor, then this must be counted as one...right? Oh,
wait, I forgot...even for the traditional marriage it is still a financial
merger with benefits not accessible to those not in the union. Though
perhaps when taken together...a marriage by proxy for financial
reasons...could that be one of those perversions set to destroy our world?

You can read about the law under discussion here.

My friend pretty much nails it right on. According to Theresa Arnold, who was instrumental in getting the bill passed:

"It would help me out tremendously, not to mention it would alleviate a lot of stress for both Tommy and me," Arnold said in a prepared statement for the judiciary committee.

The 23-year-old San Diego County woman hopes to wed by the end of September, when she is scheduled to give birth to the couple's first child, Isabella Nicole Cogan.

"We both want our child to be taken care of if anything were to happen to him while over in Iraq," she said. "We both want this (marriage), and we both incredibly love each other."

I'm very happy for you, Teresa, that you were able to get your marriage benefits while your boyfriend was overseas. But this bill passed on your behalf really does belie the absurdity of straight people's claims that their bigotry towards gay couples is motivated by concern for the institution of marriage's "sanctity."