"Marriage is not a scarce resource that has to be rationed. (Nor is love.) When Walker pressed a lawyer for Prop. 8, who had been talking about marriage existing for procreation, to say in what way, exactly, marriage equality would harm the institution, the answer was “I don’t know.” Ross Douthat, a columnist for the Times, wrote that a “marital ideal” would be lost—but he admitted that this ideal was disconnected from reality. The shattering of an illusion, or the grip of a prejudice, is not enough to give someone standing in court. What might undermine marriage is pushing fully loaded domestic partnerships—marriage-lite, lacking the constricting, exalting, maddening qualities of the real thing—as an alternative, another box to check. This might become an attractive option for everyone. If such contractual arrangements are really just as good as marriage, then what is a wedding good for, other than cake?"
— Just Married: The next steps for gay marriage | The New Yorker
