Gay marriage has lost at the polls everywhere it has been put on the ballot. That is 31 states now. The most recent failure comes in ever-blue New England, in the state of Maine. This is good news. By all means, let people establish civil unions with whoever they want to. Let people share insurance and whatever else regardless of whether they are married or not. But marriage is a truly ancient human institution that is the foundation of the nuclear family. Marriage is a unique and special relationship between one man and one woman. It needs to stay that way.
queue all the typical replies from both sides. for my part, will never understand how a group of people have so much time on their hands, and so much fear (?) in their hearts, that they can focus on disturbing the lives of another group. Just leave gay people alone already. Where I live, I'm surrounded (I know, super scary) by gay people in LTRs, and they even hold hands, etc. Why on Earth would I care if they (in their own lives, not my life) call it marriage or not? If you want to defend marriage, please start with the current practice, which is abused beyond recognition. Okay, start the count down until someone brings up polygamy. Oh, whoops.
People always say that we can't have gay marriage because marriage is a sacred institution, that happens in the church. It's sacred... no it's not! Marriage ain't sacred! Not in America! Not in the country that watches "Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire?" or "The Bachelor" or "The Bachelorette" or "Who Wants to Marry a Midget?" Get the **** outta here! Gay people have a right to be miserable as everybody else! Michael Jackson got married, how ****in' sacred is that ****? -chris rock
Ignorance is the hardest to overcome, but make no mistake, this decision by the good people of Maine is on the wrong side of history. Time marches on...
The people of Maine and the people of all 30 other states that have voted on this matter. Apparently some folks just have no respect for the will of the people. The people have spoken!
this is an antiquated view, the only reason it doesn't pass is because gays are a minority group fighting the ignorance of the majority. NEWS FLASH: the majority is not always right.
Decades from now, people will look back in astonishment at the denial of rights purely based on sexual orientation. A setback, for sure, but the American people will eventually show progressive thinking and reflect it at the ballot boxes, just as they always have.
They have, but those minds will change. There was a time when the people would have prevented blacks and whites from getting married if there was a vote put up, but that doesn't make it right. I used to share to opinion that gay marriage shouldn't be legal, as recently as a 2 years ago. I was wrong. Even if you think homosexuality is sinful, it doesn't mean that they don't deserve equal rights. Who am I to tell them that they can't love each other?
That's a load of hogwash. In Washington, the legislature passed domestic partnerships. You know, insurance, visitation rights, but not the title of marriage. The same crew running the "pro-marriage" campaign in Maine and previously California opposed those domestic partnerships, and we voted on a referendum last night. Luckily the voters upheld domestic partnerships, and I was honored to cast my vote for the winning side. The anti-marriage side showed their true colors in Washington state. They don't just oppose marriage. They oppose any additional rights for gays and lesbians. Maybe it's an ancient human institution, but gay marriage will be legal in all 50 states in 20 years. And people will be looking back at opposition to it like we do with segregation and the interracial marriage ban.
You realize this is America, where the needs of the few outweigh the desire of many. We founded this country on freedom from persecution. If the voters of Kentucky (just an example) voted to deny blacks the ability to vote or to strip Muslims of the right to marry, should we respect the will of the people? The answer is clearly no. They have civil rights that cannot be taken away by the simple vote of an electoral body. Unless, of course, they amended the US constitution. This issue is in the same vein. The fact is Maine was a very close vote. Every year more young voters turn 18 and will increasingly vote for full marriage rights. The courts are rightfully ruling on the side of full marriage rights, and in time the voters will too. This is inevitable.
Or the one in the Whitehouse... wait for it... Scribo, excellent points as usual. The fervent gang chasing this issue all over the United States is also throwing money against civil unions. It's one big nasty bed, and people shouldn't pretend they're in part of the anti-gay bed and not the other. Still waiting for true constructive ideas on saving the institution of marriage, as opposed to the growing institution of hetero divorce and institutional mockery.
Let them pass domestic partnership laws. That is fine. You might even be able to pass a law like this here in Texas. Some people would certainly oppose it. Since when does any issue have to be unanimously supported to be passed into law? By taking away the "Marriage" terminology, that would change the debate substantially, as shown in Washington state. No statewide referendum on gay "marriage" has ever been approved by the voters of any state. But if the gay rights community would alter their strategy to focus on domestic partnerships, I would expect them to be largely successful. Let marriage be what it has always been. Let domestic partnerships be whatever a state wants that to be. That is a very reasonable and achievable arrangement that would be agreeable to most people, including most gays.
should divorce be illegal? i hear people like rush limbaugh rallying on about the sanctity of traditional marriage, but he's been divorced 3 times. what is so sanctimonious about that? if two gay people want to get gay married who cares? how does it affect anyone else in any tangible way?
I'm proud of you guys. Just five years ago this thread would have looked entirely different. One more bit of evidence that, though we're not there yet and hate and fear continues to edge out justice and equality, the trend is good. And, as people have already said here, gay marriage will be legal in this country soon. And those that opposed it will have to carry that shame.
