Talk about kismet ...

How weird that two of my f-listers bring up subjects sort of related on the same day (and neither has anything to do with Anna Nicole Smith or "Supernatural," because that would not be an unusual occurrence, just for the record *G*). a_silver_rose found this article about an Illinois legislator trying to get gay marriage legalized in the Land of Lincoln. Her reaction to it was to be "floored" - mine was similar, but I pointed out I'd be REALLY surprised if it passes. Illinois is progressive, but I don't know if any part of the Midwest is THAT progressive (it'd be nice, wouldn't it?).

Then the_dala posted about something that pissed her off, some wacko conservatives' predictably pissy reactions to the issue of her college management possibly extending domestic partner benefits to gay employees in long-term relationships. I think this is a good idea, though I don't believe it goes far enough, because "domestic partners" in this case would not also extend to unmarried straight people. Personally, I think anyone who's been in a serious, living-together, committed romantic relationship for a certain length of time and has proven it by doing certain legal things (buying property jointly, owning joint assets, shared bank account, etc.) ought to have access to partner benefits through their job. (I'd say this even if gay marriage were legal - some of us just don't want to get married because of the legal nightmares involved. I've worked with divorce lawyers for five years, and it'll be a miracle on the order of parting the Red Sea if I EVER say "I do" after seeing all the crap that goes with the act of legally divvying up property and children.)