With SB 12, the bill to legalize domestic partnerships, defeated in the Senate last month, now would seem to be a pretty glum time for those seeking such partnerships and their allies. Little steps, though, even semantic ones, are good ones. Though many in favor of same-sex partnerships  eschew the terminology "marriage" for pragmatic reasons, Merriam-Webster dictionary has now embraced the term, according to WorldNetDaily. In fact, the dictionary of AP-following newspapers everywhere simply added a new definition to its first entry on "marriage."

1 a (1): the state of being united to a person of the opposite sex as husband or wife in a consensual and contractual relationship recognized by law (2): the state of being united to a person of the same sex in a relationship like that of a traditional marriage <same-sex marriage>

Semantics does little to change the status of domestic partnerships and the benefits implied therein, but at least its not another step backward.

PS, sorry about this YouTube clip and WorldNetDaily, but you gotta take what you can get.