End the marriage debate by separating religious marriage ceremonies from government.

We propose that the words marriage and spouse be removed entirely from the tax code and any other federal, state, and local government documents. These words can be replaced with the words “civil partnership” or similar, defined simply as: "2 people may apply for a civil partnership if they have shared the same primary residence for a minimum of 3 years." They can be relatives, friends, or significant others. Churches can decide if their religion allows two people to engage in a ceremony of marriage. The government can (and should) stay out of it altogether. Our tax money no longer needs to pay lawmakers to debate who can participate in personal, private religious ceremonies. End the conversation by eliminating it at the source. Remove marriage from our government’s vocabulary.