[princessbelle]

IMO....If i'm committed and *you* are committed and *we* have a ceremony whether legal or not with friends, or alone, we are married. If *we exchange vows, to our God, to the world, to each other, we are married.

I've been both legally married and married to a woman that wasn't legal. I did not feel "less married" with the one that was not legal.

It's papers. However, sometimes those papers are important. Most of them can be worked around. In the situation regarding insurance coverage things like that, sometimes they cannot be worked around and that sucks. Most of the time though as with power of attorney, medical power of attorney, beneficiary to life insurance, ect. things can be done to assure your partner's rights.

I still want our legal rights to marry, but until then at least we have a clearer path with knowing what we need to do to secure our partner and ourselves for the future.

Besides the paperwork part of it, whether it is legal or not, it is the same for me in my heart. Give me a ring, a white dress and your heart, promise me it is forever, and i'll give you all that back and more. Well, maybe you wouldn't want the white dress, but you get the picture.