By giving rights to nonmarital relationships, the state could bolster their stability and offer people greater freedom in their private lives. In his Obergefell decision, Justice Kennedy links marriage to autonomy and liberty, but Matsumura, the law professor, says, “If we accept that autonomy and self-definition is an important part of what the law’s protecting through marriage, then giving [marriage] as the only option to people who don’t see their relationships that way is denying them that valuable aspect of the law.” More options would enable people to explore a wider set of possibilities
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