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I completely agree with your position, Strawman. The first point here is that both the current system and the proposed changes do not grant equality to all under law. An issue that needs to be addressed. You have suggested abolition of the current system, or at least a winding back of it, replacing the legal side of marriage with a civil contract. (The other 'sides' of marriage, are of course, only the business of the parties involved and those that they invite along for the ride, eg the religious side). I couldnt agree more that this is the best way to deal with this issue, and the proper embodiment of the libertarian concept of voluntary association. However whenever I put this view to others, or blog about it, it generally goes down like a lead balloon. I mentioned it on the site kimdutoit.com some time ago (among other sites), but most readers there feel marriage is a cornerstone social institution and should be enshrined in a law that omits gays! The argument that reducing government intervention doesn't reduce the impact of marriage as a cornerstone institution didn't get much consideration either. As such, for all practical considerations, I find myself supporting gay marriage on the basis of equality under law for all. For instance, in the upcoming election if you want to be part of the argument you more or less have to take a 'for or against' stance on gay marriage. Calls for abolition of the current legal definition of marriage on the grounds that the government shouldn't be messing around in our personal relationships usually draws blank stares. Which, in the wider picture, is why the 'third way' of a libertarian is difficult. The concepts of personal and economic freedom can be so foreign to a lot of people that its hard to have a well rounded argument. Then combine this with the fact that libertarians (by definition) often do not want to be involved in politics as this involves controlling other peoples lives and they'd rather leave that to the individual. Now you have the current situation where the true libertarian viewpoint is often not represented and the libertarian ends up having to compromise their own viewpoint.
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