The President comes out in support of gay marriage!

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DogsWithoutHorses
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10 May 2012, 12:00 pm

NowhereMan1966 wrote:
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Traditional marriage? I haven't heard of people giving cattle lately


Hmmmm, good one! ;) There is a side of me that wonders if arranged marriages should be brought back, but then again, I would be afraid of who my parents would have matched me with. :) At least though, this poor ASer, me, would have a spouse, I suck at dating anyhoo. :p Cattle, well, don't have the place for them. :)


Haha yeah, dating blows. Sucks women aren't chattel anymore brah.


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10 May 2012, 12:28 pm

NowhereMan1966 wrote:
I personally favor traditional marriage but my take is I see it more as a State's Rights issue than a equality one.


So State's rights trump individual rights?

Many conservatives seem to be the first to sound the siren call of "Liberty!" when they see their own rights being infringed by government, but they are quite prepared to see government step in and trample on the individual liberty of another citizen who chooses to exercise rights in a way that the conservative disapproves of.

This "States' Rights," rhetoric is a cover for bigotry. It carries the clear implication that government, and the majority of voters are free to run roughshod over the rights of individuals. The United States long since established that this should not longer be true for women, racial minorities and religious minorities and it is high time that the same protection was extended on the basis of sexual orientation.

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IMHO, a compromise, I think the government should leave it to the people themselves to decide, leave government out of it, I tend to lean libertarian here but under our legal system, the Constitution is silent here on a Federal level so it is up to each State to decide. Under our system, basically we let the States decide a lot of things, at least we should, and you might end up with a mosaic of laws and customs that are tailored to the people of each State much like it was 200 years ago. Generally I have a different take than most here, some see it as a equality issue or a privacy issue (4th Amendment) but I see it as a more of a 10th Amendment issue. Needless to say, I get it on both sides. I guess if put to the test myself, I'd vote it down, I do have my preference and principles but I'm willing to accept the compromise I lined out above which is the best option. Leave it to the churches and individuals in question although again, legally, leave it to the States.


I am perfectly content to leave it to States, provided that the Constitutional guarantees of equal protection do not exclude gay and lesbian citizens.

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I don't like judges deciding this, let the people decide and there is the legislative process that can be used too. As Sgt. Joe Friday said in "Dragnet 1967," "if you don't like the law as it is, work within the system to change it." Both side of the issue have access to that.


Why don't you like judges deciding this? When legislatures and the electorate act unconstitutionally, who else but judges are there to stop them?

If Congress were to pass a law that said, "Black people may not vote," who would stop such a law from being enforced? So when a legislature passes a law that says, "Gay people may not marry each other," or the electorate passes a referendum that says, "the legislature may not recognize same-sex marriages," how then is that law to be tested for constitutional validity?

Legislatures are not infallible. They overreach themselves all the time. The Courts are a check on the tyrrany of the majority.

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I think the Administration is trying the same tactic the old guy in the movie "Up," where he distracted the dogs by yelling "Squirrel!" and throwing the dogs off their path. IT is to distract us from our real problems.

I think we have more problems than this and, yes, I'm paleo-libertarian/conservative, which side I fall on depends on the issue, I really don't fit into labels. Really, if I lose on this issue, so be it, but I'm more worried about the economy, Iran, other foreign policy issues, putting food on the table, gas prices and generally don't like the direction our current leadership is taking us. I see this as an attempt by the current leader to divide us more and a diversion to the real issues mentioned above. Straight or gay and so on, we all face those same issues of trying to survive. Seriously, this is among the last things to worry about. We need to quit hurting each other and concentrate on our real problems.


No, gay and straight don't face the same issues of trying to survive. In addition to "the economy, Iran, other foreign policy issues, putting food on the table, gas prices," and all the other issues of the day, gay and lesbian people also face the hardship of discrimination and intolerance.


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10 May 2012, 12:32 pm

PM wrote:
This being politics, The Republican Party is going to take advantage of this as is the Christian Right.


I doubt it, for the simple reason that those opposed to gay marriage are likely already in the Republican column.

One exception: BO will still get 98% or whatever of the African-American vote, This despite the fact that it was (ironically) the high turnout of African-Americans in 2008 that sank California's gay rights law.

BTW, I thought he said he OPPOSED gay marriage in the 2008 election, rather than just keeping silent about the issue? Am I not remembering correctly?


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10 May 2012, 12:37 pm

If a constitutional amendment was proposed that said "heterosexuals cannot bear arms; the right to bear arms only extends to homosexuals" you see the ridiculousness of the argument...



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10 May 2012, 1:22 pm

mushroo wrote:
If 98% thought it should be illegal and only 2% supported it, I would still argue it should be legal, as a civil rights issue. An unpopular minority should not be denied equal civil rights simply on the basis of being an unpopular minority, in my opinion. Our legal system is not based on "what is 51% popular?" as a guiding principle!


Pretty much.

I don't see gay marriage as a moral issue-- although, being neither gay nor God, it's really none of my business what God thinks of gay people.

I see it as a civil rights issue, very cut and dried-- although I suppose you could argue that it's immoral to treat part of the population as lesser persons under the law simply because you, personally, are not comfortable with their personal lifestyle choices.

Kind of like certain other social minorities that find themselves being told they deserve to be s**t upon for being overtly different...

In the end, it's all about if there should be a box, how big it should be, what shape, and who gets to decide. I can't believe we're still fighting about this stuff. Humans suck.


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10 May 2012, 3:57 pm

mushroo wrote:
I think I understand the timing of Obama's comment now.

His contacts at the Washington Post probably tipped him off they were working on this story:

Quote:
BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich. — Mitt Romney returned from a three-week spring break in 1965 to resume his studies as a high school senior at the prestigious Cranbrook School. Back on the handsome campus, studded with Tudor brick buildings and manicured fields, he spotted something he thought did not belong at a school where the boys wore ties and carried briefcases. John Lauber, a soft-spoken new student one year behind Romney, was perpetually teased for his nonconformity and presumed homosexuality. Now he was walking around the all-boys school with bleached-blond hair that draped over one eye, and Romney wasn’t having it.

“He can’t look like that. That’s wrong. Just look at him!” an incensed Romney told Matthew Friedemann, his close friend in the Stevens Hall dorm, according to Friedemann’s recollection. Mitt, the teenaged son of Michigan Gov. George Romney, kept complaining about Lauber’s look, Friedemann recalled.

A few days later, Friedemann entered Stevens Hall off the school’s collegiate quad to find Romney marching out of his own room ahead of a prep school posse shouting about their plan to cut Lauber’s hair. Friedemann followed them to a nearby room where they came upon Lauber, tackled him and pinned him to the ground. As Lauber, his eyes filling with tears, screamed for help, Romney repeatedly clipped his hair with a pair of scissors...


Full story: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/ ... story.html


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10 May 2012, 4:06 pm

It is a gender discrimination issue pure and simple, you don't even need to use the words "gay" and "straight" to make the argument.

If my friend can marry a man because she is a woman, but I cannot marry a man because I am a man, then I am being discriminated against because of my gender. It falls under the same category as women being allowed to vote, men being allowed paternity leave, etc.

I think the only reason people do not see it as a simple gender discrimination issue is that they are squeamish about the mechanics of gay sex and/or hung up on a couple of bible passages. Thus all the arguments about the "gay lifestyle," the "sanctity of marriage" and so forth, instead of simply coming out (no pun intended) and calling it what it is: telling Americans they must discriminate by gender when making the most important decision of their private lives.



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10 May 2012, 4:49 pm

BuyerBeware wrote:
I see it as a civil rights issue, very cut and dried--

I've always been bothered by this sort of thing. I mean, I can see how you might see it as a civil rights issue, but how can it seem cut and dried? I see people declaring it to be a right or a civil right all over the place, but I don't think I've ever seen anyone bother to explain why.

mushroo wrote:
I think the only reason people do not see it as a simple gender discrimination issue is that they are squeamish about the mechanics of gay sex and/or hung up on a couple of bible passages.

Neither of those two things apply to me, but I can't see how it could be called a gender discrimination issue. No one gender is being forbidden anything.

I think you (and by 'you' I mean all the people who agree with you on this, not just you personally) should be careful when guessing other people's motivations. Especially people who you disagree with.


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10 May 2012, 5:00 pm

Ancalagon wrote:
BuyerBeware wrote:
I see it as a civil rights issue, very cut and dried--

I've always been bothered by this sort of thing. I mean, I can see how you might see it as a civil rights issue, but how can it seem cut and dried? I see people declaring it to be a right or a civil right all over the place, but I don't think I've ever seen anyone bother to explain why.

mushroo wrote:
I think the only reason people do not see it as a simple gender discrimination issue is that they are squeamish about the mechanics of gay sex and/or hung up on a couple of bible passages.

Neither of those two things apply to me, but I can't see how it could be called a gender discrimination issue. No one gender is being forbidden anything.

I think you (and by 'you' I mean all the people who agree with you on this, not just you personally) should be careful when guessing other people's motivations. Especially people who you disagree with.


Apologies for putting words in other people's mouths... allow me to retract that and focus on explaining my own thoughts... it is tricky, but here it goes:

1) I don't really care about other people's prejudices and stereotypes. Changing how other people see the world is not my mission in life.

Likewise I expect to be left alone to believe what I want to believe and think what I want to think.

Many Americans discriminate by gender and/or sexual preference when they choose a spouse, for example a man might only marry a heterosexual woman, or a woman only marry a heterosexual man. They might even think it is "wrong" to be homosexual and marry someone of the same gender, and so they publicly speak out against it. That's OK with me!

What I do not appreciate is being legally required to adopt someone else's prejudice. Maybe I don't care whether my spouse is a man or woman; I just want to find someone nice who respects me. But if the law requires that I must discriminate against 50% of the population when choosing my spouse, then I believe my freedom, to be the type of person who does not discriminate on the basis of gender or sexual orientation, is being violated.

It is illegal for a landlord or employer to discriminate on the basis of gender or sexual preference. But it is also illegal to not discriminate by gender or sexual preference in the bedroom or wedding chapel??? That seems absurd to me!

2) If a woman has a legal right to do something (marry a man), but a man does not have the same right, then how is that not gender discrimination? How is that not in the same category as mandating that gender pre-determines one's education/career/voting rights/social status?

(edit to say that I live in a state where same-sex marriage has been legal for years, therefore I tend to agree with the "states' rights" argument here)



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10 May 2012, 5:17 pm

I honestly do not understand what the big deal is about gay marriage. I'm for it being legal, and even if I was against the idea I don't see how it being legal would hurt me. Legalizing gay marriage doesn't force people to be in one. It doesn't infringe upon anyone's rights for a gay couple to marry. Somebody on Fox (saw it at my Mom's) today was talking about how legalizing it would imfringe on people's religious rights. How? Exactly how? They are still free to think it's wrong, not do it themselves, be haters and sit back and smile because they believe the gay people will go to hell. Their rights aren't touched by it at all.

If you are against gay marriage, don't be in one. Simple as that.


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10 May 2012, 5:22 pm

If a religion sanctifies same-sex marriage (and lots of them do, these days) then it is an invasion of religious freedom for the government to interfere.



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10 May 2012, 5:29 pm

OliveOilMom wrote:
I honestly do not understand what the big deal is about gay marriage. I'm for it being legal, and even if I was against the idea I don't see how it being legal would hurt me. Legalizing gay marriage doesn't force people to be in one. It doesn't infringe upon anyone's rights for a gay couple to marry. Somebody on Fox (saw it at my Mom's) today was talking about how legalizing it would imfringe on people's religious rights. How? Exactly how? They are still free to think it's wrong, not do it themselves, be haters and sit back and smile because they believe the gay people will go to hell. Their rights aren't touched by it at all.

If you are against gay marriage, don't be in one. Simple as that.


The fact is, I don't think homosexuals make up even three percent of the American population, but listening to gay marriage opponents, you'd think every other marriage would be same sex! I think they're starting to believe their own BS.

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10 May 2012, 5:48 pm

mushroo wrote:
Changing how other people see the world is not my mission in life.

Fair enough.

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What I do not appreciate is being legally required to adopt someone else's prejudice.

I don't see what prejudice has to do with it.

Quote:
2) If a woman has a legal right to do something (marry a man), but a man does not have the same right, then how is that not gender discrimination?

It cuts both ways. The man is forbidden from something, but the woman is also forbidden something in an entirely symmetric way.

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If a religion sanctifies same-sex marriage (and lots of them do, these days) then it is an invasion of religious freedom for the government to interfere.

This is actually a very good argument for it, thank you. The first I've seen, IIRC.


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10 May 2012, 6:01 pm

I have yet to see any decent arguments against gay marriage.

It generally all comes down to, "It's against my religion," or "It will make heterosexual marriages less special."

All garbage.

Time to move into the 21st century.


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10 May 2012, 6:16 pm

Ancalagon wrote:
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What I do not appreciate is being legally required to adopt someone else's prejudice.

I don't see what prejudice has to do with it.


That you don't see your belief as a prejudice, does not mean that I must adopt a belief I do not personally agree with.

Ancalagon wrote:
Quote:
2) If a woman has a legal right to do something (marry a man), but a man does not have the same right, then how is that not gender discrimination?

It cuts both ways. The man is forbidden from something, but the woman is also forbidden something in an entirely symmetric way.


Exactly. Your choice of the word "cuts" is an acknowledgment that discrimination causes pain and suffering to the victims.



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10 May 2012, 6:40 pm

Fascinating article:

http://anthropologist.livejournal.com/1314574.html

Quote:
When Same-Sex Marriage Was a Christian Rite
Contrary to myth, Christianity's concept of marriage has not been set in stone since the days of Christ, but has constantly evolved as a concept and ritual. Prof. John Boswell, the late Chairman of Yale University’s history department, discovered that in addition to heterosexual marriage ceremonies in ancient Christian church liturgical documents, there were also ceremonies called the "Office of Same-Sex Union" (10th and 11th century), and the "Order for Uniting Two Men" (11th and 12th century)...