Instead of focusing on the form a relationship takes, many legal scholars suggest looking at the function it serves. Vivian Hamilton, a professor at William & Mary Law School, argues that the state has an interest in two core functions: caregiving and economic support. She asks, “Why should [the government] privilege one form of companionate relationship over others that may serve the same societal functions?” Hamilton says marriage is a “ham-handed” proxy for caregiving and economic dependence and calls on the state to support those functions directly. The courts that ruled in the parental
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