Some more questions about gay marriage, from a thoughtful reader:

“Your comment about cell-mates marrying got me thinking. Under the

traditional restrictions, a man cannot marry his daughter, or, a fortiori,

his son, and so if he leaves them a very large inheritance, it is taxed,

although what he leaves his wife is not taxed. But under a general license

to ‘marry’ another man, a man could marry his son, and thus pass his

property to the son tax-free.

“This is a loophole that would have to be closed, if estate taxes are going

to continue, and the obvious way to close it would be to eliminate the

special consideration given to inheritance by a spouse. This would be an

unwelcome surprise to some propents of ‘gay marriage.’

“On another front, what if two men who are partners in crime take the

precaution of marrying, so that they can each be sure that the other one

won’t turn state’s evidence at trial, should they be caught?

“Marriage, with the special privileges that have grown up around it, is a

potential source of advantages to the unscrupulous. The remedy is going to

be, I suppose, to reduce or eliminate the privileges. Having achieved

marriage, the homosexuals may find that it isn’t worth having any more…”