I was married (and formed a civil union) in Turkey. While I don't believe the Turkish government will recognize same-sex marriages, I do believe that they have a more sensible attitude to marriage than the United States.
The government simply does not recognize religious unions. In order to be "married", you must go through a civil ceremony. In my case, we opted for a private religious ceremony (for family reasons), followed the next day by the official civil ceremony. No problem for us, no problem for the government.
I really dislike the fact that the term "marriage" is tightly coupled to religion. I would appreciate a less-encumbered word to describe my union, something that rolls off the tongue better than "civil union". Meanwhile, I'm doing my best to refer to my spouse as "partner".
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Slashdot Mirror
I was married (and formed a civil union) in Turkey. While I don't believe the Turkish government will recognize same-sex marriages, I do believe that they have a more sensible attitude to marriage than the United States. The government simply does not recognize religious unions. In order to be "married", you must go through a civil ceremony. In my case, we opted for a private religious ceremony (for family reasons), followed the next day by the official civil ceremony. No problem for us, no problem for the government. I really dislike the fact that the term "marriage" is tightly coupled to religion. I would appreciate a less-encumbered word to describe my union, something that rolls off the tongue better than "civil union". Meanwhile, I'm doing my best to refer to my spouse as "partner". -- (void)