Nicole Gelinas makes one of my pet points about marriage in her New York Post op-ed, A TATTERED PRIZE: that we have changed the legal definition of marriage to where it doesn't mean much nowadays. Queer marriage is thus not a big deal-- the institution is not threatened-- it is already destroyed, legally.

Gay couples who marry for keeps had better snag a baby or two, quick - because kids have become the only sticky point in a divorce. But here's the catch: The marriage part is irrelevant. For couples once-married, almost-unmarried or never-married, child- related litigation is the only tie that binds forever.

It matters not if a child's "father" has known his partner three hours or 10 years - and smart single straight men realize that a birth-control failure, and not years of careful consideration, is what may seal a fledgling commitment.

If you want to leave your childless wife after five years of marriage, no judge will bat an eye. But get your date pregnant on your first night out and you are hers, financially, for 18-22 years....

To return to Eric Rasmusen's weblog, click http://php.indiana.edu/~erasmuse/w/0.rasmusen.htm.