utown writing

This story started here.

"I am curious about marriage in U-town, for a start."

"In general, or in specific?"

"In general. I have heard that anybody can get married who wants to."

"I can see why people would say that, but it's not true. It is true that we have no categorical restrictions. Men can marry men, women can marry women, marriage is not limited to only two people, and so on. All of that is true."

"What about children?"

He meant it sarcastically, but she didn't take the bait. "Good point," she said. "No, children are not allowed to marry. They are, by definition, not mature enough to make that sort of decision."

"Then who determines when somebody is old enough?"

"We do, but you're approaching this backwards. Start with the rule, not the exceptions. Say you want to get married. You come to us, you and the person you want to marry, and you make a request. We consider it, we talk to everybody concerned, and then we make a decision. If we decide we approve, then it depends on waiting for Doc to be available to preside. If we don't approve, then you can get married by somebody else, or somewhere else, or not at all. Or you can reapply at a later date."

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