I think the legal benefits of marriage are diminishing and hence more and more couples are choosing not to marry. In fact, many gay couples discovered the "marriage penalty" and felt snookered.

The societal economic benefits of marriage were largely designed for couples with children and one breadwinner and a stay-at-home person caring for multiple children. Today most couples have one or two children and both partners work.

On the other hand, for people that want to publicly declare they are a couple a wedding ceremony can be a wonderful event. Giving people a choice to "wed", enter into a legal contract, or both... seems to produce the greatest individual freedom.

Today's Democratic party attempts to force people to conform or get cancelled. Again, not the Democratic party I supported on many occasions when I was younger.