Many comments have been made about the decision of Dr. James Dobson and Focus on the Family to back a bill creating "Reciprocal Beneficiary" agreement within the State of Colorado. Some have alleged this to be a great betrayal of traditional values. I find it strange that anyone who knows Dr. Dobson and his work would make such an allegation.

The Reciprocal Beneficiary Agreement has been mischaracterized as marriage light. That's not the intent of the sponsors. Vermont, which has Civil Unions, also has Reciprocal Beneficiaries Agreements available. Most of the Bill's Rights already can be obtained by a contract with two notable exceptions:

1) Inherits in the same position as a spouse without a will.
2) The Possibility of be on their Reciprocal Beneficiary's Insurance, should their work choose to offer it.

The Bill also is different from Domestic Partnership in that it doesn't legitimize cohabitation. To have a valid agreement, you have to be incapable of marrying each other. Unlike Civil Unions, it is not dependent on gender. So, it's possible that these agreements could be used in a variety of ways. Let's say a divorced mother has a single son not in College and has no health insurance at work, and her job offers benefits for Reciprocal Beneficiaries. She can have her son named as her reciprocal beneficiary and he'll get health insurance. The Reciprocal Beneficiary agreement gets automatically terminated when one of the parties enters marriage.

The bill is well-intentioned but there are two problems. First, it inserts the government into private relationships for the sake, not of society, but of those involved in the relationship. We recognize marriage, not for the benefits it brings to the people involved, but to the benefit it brings to society.

This is fundamental to our debate over homosexual marriage. If our recognition of marriage is based on its benefits to the persons involved in it, and we recognize it so that individuals may enjoy tax benefits then there's a case that those advocating natural marriage are merely with holding the goodies from people because of sexual orientation. If, on the other hand, marriage is about the good of society, then homosexual relationships, which have not proven themselves the best model for raising children and families, requires no recognition whatsoever.

What the bill does is create a system where homosexual relationships should be recognized as what Focus calls "a matter of fairness," thus undercutting the consistency of the argument.

The second point is this bill is a compromise not asked for by the Homosexual Community. I could see accepting the bill, if the leader of the Human Rights Campaign came offering a compromise in which they would stop pushing gay marriage in exchange for the passage of this bill. But, while this idea is filled with good intentions, it is not being received by the radical homosexual community as such.

Pam's House Blend, a popular Lesbian Blog headlined the story of Dobson's support as, "Daddy Dobson Folds on His Own Home Turf." The radical homosexual movement sees this not as a generous gesture, but as a sign of weakness. Because its being interpreted as such, Homosexuals will become even more strident, convinced not to stop with obtaining the same license that a Grandma and her grandson could obtain, but to fight until everyone is forced to recognize homosexual relationships as the full legal and moral equivalent of natural marriage.

Dobson has helped build up families in America, and for that he deserves deference and respect. It would, however, be a sad irony if by backing this bill, Dobson were to open the door for a "separate but equal" argument from homosexual rights movement and for the arrival of gay marriage itself.

Adam Graham is the author of the Screwtape Report which is available at http://www.lulu.com/content/165415. He was the 2000 Montana State Coordinator of the Alan Keyes Presidential Campaign. He and his wife live in Boise, Idaho. He is a columnist for AmericanDaily.com, RenewAmerica.us, TheConservativeVoice.com. and Conservatown.com. You can visit his blog at http://www.adamsweb.us/blog You can also subscribe to his nightly podcast at http://feeds.feedburner.com/blogspot/blgH