Here’s one for church folk and any passing ethicist.
Suppose a couple get a civil partnership and they then have a service of blessing in an Episcopal Church – rings, promises, nuptial mass, the whole enchilada, with lovely prayers drawn from the Scottish Episcopal marriage liturgy. (As happens).
Supposing that is all done with and then suddenly the government come along and offer to make those who have civil partnerships married at the stroke of a pen.
What is the moral difference between that and a straight couple getting married in church?
[My interest in this question is to see whether the answers divide between people who say, “There’s no difference, therefore same-sex couples don’t need marriage” and those who say, “There’s no difference, so we should stop shilly-shallying about and wed same-sex couples on the same basis as every else.”]
Furthermore, might couples expect to go through another ceremony to mark this change of status or not?
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