Traditional Marriage

I've been arguing with my conservative pal about Gay Marriage. he thinks it'll destroy 'traditional marriage' but won't say just how. I think it's just a simple matter of "equal protection under the law." The 14th Amendment should apply.

(There's also the fact that this country attaches access to health care to one's employment status: if we won't let gays marry, we really should let domestic partners have affordable health care.)

I got to brooding about the idea of "traditional marriage" and it occurred to me that it's already gone: marriage has been in a process of redefinition for centuries, but back in the '80s, the last major inequality was removed: marital rape was criminalized. That's a pretty profound redefinition.[more to follow]

Ah, the internet: Three different sources cite three different "First State to criminalize marital rape":
1)"Another reform has made marital rape a crime in many circumstances, with South Dakota becoming the first state to institute such law reforms in 1975."
2) "1976:Nebraska becomes the first state to abolish the marital rape exemption."
3) "Oregon first state to repeal marital exemptions in rape statute (1977). "
Find a link and take your pick, I guess.

Sol Wachtler was the judge in NYS who overturned it here.