Prop 8 is to get a ruling today

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by naraht

*But*, in the USA a religious official can do it all. In certain other countries (France and I think Brazil), there *must* be a civil official performing the wedding. What else you have done is irrelevant to the Civil Government.

Right. That's what I was talking about -- a system where the religious ceremony cannot create a legal civil union. I think you can add Spain, Germany, Argentina and Japan to your list.

And I know lots of clergy who'd like to see such a system here.

Originally Posted by knight_shadow

ETA: If that's the case, I don't even see how the government wouldn't recognize same-sex marriages if they're done "officially" by a clergy member. I know of at least one church in my area that performs same-sex ceremonies.

Because the member of the clergy acts as both an agent of the church and an agent of the state (which is why many members of the clergy would love to see the system changed.) As agents of the state, they can only do what state law allows. If they're in Utah and officiate at a same-sex ceremony, their church may recognize the marriage but the minister/priest, as an agent of the state, cannot bind the state contrary to state law. In other words, state law doesn't give the minister/priest any authority to preside at a same-sex marriage on behalf of the state.