Don’t over-romanticize romance
When former first lady Laura Bush said “I also know that when couples are committed to each other and love each other that they ought to have the same sort of rights that everyone has,” she was clearly speaking in the context of same-sex marriage. Wonder what she thinks about unmarried different-sex couples, or non-romantic caring relationships like siblings or friends?
A reminder not to over-romanticize romantic relationships (and not to over-focus on marriage) came in the form of horrible news about domestic and intimate-partner violence, particularly the murder of Yeardley Love at the University of Virginia. Coverage of this case revealed that “1 in 5 Virginia homicides resulted from intimate partner violence in 2005,” including “victims who had intervened or were caught in the crossfire of intimate partner violence,” and that “51% of all female homicide victims were killed by an intimate partner.” If that weren’t sad enough, protecting people from violence has a marital status discrimination angle. As Newsweek noted
despite [the boyfriend's] violent past, Love couldn’t have filed a restraining order against him even if she wanted to. Virginia is one of eight states that excludes people in dating relationships – in other words, unmarried couples or partners – from getting protective restraining orders.
