Amendment

Living over here, I've had to adjust a little to the fact that when people refer to the government over here, it can be to either State or Federal - this can lead to some interesting mix-ups in conversations from time to time (I guess this is somewhat analagous to the local councils and the government in the UK). Anyway, when reading the paper, you have to be aware of this distincton when reading articles on local politics. This held true for a recent article i was reading on an amendment that is currently being debated on for the South Carolina constituiton - one that is certainly en vogue at the minute.

The amendment is an addition to a current article (XVII) referring to the recognition of marriage in the state - essentially to be amended by saying that the only lawful domestic union will be between one man and one woman. Whilst the issues are not so much with marriage being referred to as between a man and woman, the larger implications are that any other union, no matter for how long, or in what circumstances, will essentially not be legally recognised in SC. Thus, any participants in such a union will have no legal rights when it comes to issues such as inheritance, next of kin etc. etc. etc. As it happens, this issue is being debated in states across the country to varying results. Ultimately, i guess this will lead to some federal amendments to the consitituion. It can only be hoped that, given America prides itself on being a good role model for the rest of the world, they can actually show a little more tolerance at home first.