Marriage: Redefined! Well, Kind of.

After the let down of California actually passing Prop 8, it’s nice to finally have equality and gay rights represented in the dictionary. Yup, that’s right. Merriam-Webster officially included a secondary definition of the term “marriage” to recognize homosexual relationships.

While they officially defined it back in 2003, and other dictionaries even earlier, the news is only now receiving hype thanks to a post on (uber conservative) World Net Daily on Tuesday.

While the redefinition doesn’t provide homosexuals with the rights they need to actually get married in the 48 states (Massschusetts & Connecticut excluded) that currently do not recognize the marriage like the dictionary, it brings up an interesting point: who — or what — actually determines what marriage means?

While the state holds the power to grant you or deny you the “privilege,” are we really still basing human rights on laws instituted in ancient Rome and the Theodosian Code?

Please, people. But thanks, Merriam-Webster, for jumping on the bandwagon and giving us another excuse to bring this matter of civil rights back to the forefront.

Merriam-Webster:
(2): the state of being united to a person of the same sex in a relationship like that of a traditional marriage [same-sex marriage]

American Heritage (revised back in 2000!):
“A union between two persons having the customary but usually not the legal force of marriage: a same-sex marriage.”

Oxford English:
A draft written about a month ago leans toward including a revision that refers to “long-term relationships between partners of the same sex.”

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