Anyone stupid enough to convert to Catholicism during the pedophie problem as the Senator did, shows they are not wired properly.

YES DEAR, POLITICS HAVE CONSEQUENCES

What Solomon may not realize is that his “politics as usual” has consequences—ergo, that it gives people who hate the chance to hate even more because the President said we need an amendment AGAINST gay marriage, and let’s not fool ourselves that IS the message sent.

The President and Congress HAVE alot of power for form Public opinion—if the last few Presidents had come our strongly for the Equal Rights Amendment do we doubt that women would have stronger rights in the country towards abortions, etc. 

But they did not, so women after a brief flurry of rights gains are slowly being pushed back. And Gays well we will have no rights at all if some had their ways.

I’m seriously tiring of this politicking, for that’s all it is.  Pandering to the homophobic and ignorant base. Frankly, everybody needs to get out more.  Go to a drag show, have a pleasant meal or cup of coffee with a fag, and maybe, JUST maybe, your opinion will change. “Hey, maybe the span of human experience reaches beyond just what I know and see.  Maybe everyone deserves to vow to spend the rest of their lives with one they love.”  Oh, and animals cannot enter into a binding contract, so you can stop worrying about bestiality marriages.  Need I remind you that marriage is also a SECULAR institution?  Meaning that a Justice of the Peace can legally recognize a union? Churches can refuse all the gay marriage requests they want, even a church wedding isn’t recognized unless it goes through the state. And what REALLY is the big deal?  At least half of straight marriages don’t last three years, so do we REALLY know what we’re getting into?  And guess what?  There is little difference between a gay couple dynamic and a straight one!  Couples bitch about the same things: slobbiness, forgetfulness, being taken for granted, hogging the covers, financial issues, you name it.  And what are gays asking for that’s too much? Really?

-Estate privileges to a surviving spouse
-Visiting rights at hospitals
-Power of attorney
-Banking and real estate accounts
-Adoption rights and benefits
-Joint life and medical insurance policies

AAAAAAAAAND let’s not forget the biggie:

-Income tax benefits for married couples

Is THAT so much to ask? ALL of the SAME benefits that straight couples enjoy SECULARLY BY THE STATE? Come on, wake up! This country’s about FREEDOM!  And that means for everyone! I seriously doubt that gays can ruin the institution of marriage any more than we straights have already.

The Religious Right are fundamentalists after power and control. They must have an issue to whip up the congregants. Everyone knows, that polarizing people “against” something is far easier than evoking action “for” a positive issue. This is about power and nothing is as powerful as discrimination by those that feel superior. Furthermore, this kind of fundamentalism works primarily on the ignorant and poorly educated. The GOP and the R.R. have become masters had messaging the poorly informed because if someone derives their knowledge from facts, these people loose them in the debate.

What do you all think about Leola McConnell and her little tale regarding Commander Codpiece and his pal Victor Ashe?

the reaction to removing the word “marriage” from the marriage equation would be a simple one. the phrase and fact of “civil union”, and the marriage rights there entailed, would be held as the inviolable province of the same bigots who would co-opt marriage. refer to edward bernays or josef goebels as to the power of simple language. to entertain any argument opposing ones “equal station, to which the laws of nature and of nature’s god entitle them” is to concede the legitimacy of such an argument. i should like to make it plain that i dismiss this argument, and those who would foment such an argument, as the ignorance and hatred for which it stands.

The solution to all of this charade is very simple.  Take the word “marriage” out of the picture all together.  ALL persons (regardless of gender) wishing to live together with benefits under the law would be enjoined together by “Civil Union”.  Any couple could go to the County Court House and get joined by “Civil Union” providing they met the citizenship and age requirements and lets say one spouse per person and restricted to humans only.  The “Civil Union” would entitle the couple, regardless of gender, to all of the benefits of the laws of the land to include taxes, inheritence, immigration, child custody, etc., etc.  There! Done!  The County, State and Federal apparatus would only recognize “Civil Unions” as administered by the County goverment who would issue the Document of Enjoinment.  Church weddings would have no standing under the law and would be considered meaningless inside the courts of law.  There then would be the end of “marriage” with all of it’s discriminatory injustices and a reasonable method of partnering for all American citizens.

According to a PBS documentary last year, homophobes actually are turned on by erotic picutres of men.  This was based upon the results of a Florida university study in which, using erotic pictures as the stimuls,  the response of homophobic and non-homophobic men were determined by measuring the penile circumference before and after the subjects were shown the above erotica.  Turns out that while there was no change in the penile circumference in the non-homophobes, in the homophobes, without exception, there was an increase in this measurement (ie. tumescence, the sine qua non of male sexual arousal).  Does this mean that homophobes are latent homosexuals who react to their being turned on by men by lashing out at the apple in their eye?  Not so quick now, the above study has yet to be repeated.  In the meantime, perhaps the best way to pacify a homophobe is to say, “I understand.  It’s not your fault..  You were born that way.”

What is wrong with a civil union in which the partners would enjoy the same benefits of marriage but need not be either gay or straight.  Something which tow straight friends or siblings could benefit from as well as gays. 
Even if same sex marriage were legal, you still would not be able to force churches to hold them.

“If homosexual marriage takes root in our nation, we will see the same pattern here that has been previewed for us in Scandinavian nations where same-sex arrangements have been made legal”

Yeah, ‘cause in scandinavia they are in BIIIG trouble.

UN have named Norway the best country to live in now 10 years in a row, we spend 1% of our income on foreign aid every year, EVERYBODY have the same rights according to our constitution, free health care, free higher education, both parents are allowed to stay home with full salary after a birth (8 weeks for dads), low unemployment rates and high wages.

Like gays are the thing you should worry about right now.

Poverty, lousy infrastructure, DEBT, lying/spying president, drugs, “war on terror” (what a joke, like you’re ever going to get rid of terror) and global warming are a bit more destroying for your society than gays….

I think you guys have fucked up a bit more than we have right now, so please leave us out of this discussion….

Fed up in Florida: Homosexuals can no more help the way their bodies and brains work than black people can help the color of their skin.  You, on the other hand, can educate yourself out of the hole of arrogant ignorance you’re living in.

The slippery slope argument is rediculous and only plays well to the uneducated and underinformed.

Where is the humanity in the country?  It just blows my mind that people can’t realize a simple truth - just because you don’t get homosexuality (either because you’ve never had to deal with tendancies or you’ve never known a real gay person and really tried to understand them) doesn’t invalidate the human experience of being gay- I spent 10 miserable years trying to be straight because that’s what society told me was the right way to live.  Society has got some major learning to do.  I’ve found incredible happiness in coming to terms with who and what I am in my natural form, and damn anyone who would want to take that away from me.

That so many people want to make my and other people’s lives more difficult just because of their own unfounded fears and prejudices is incredibly sad, unjust, and just plain wrong.

Truthdig
Sorry for the uncouth comment last night. Thanks for throwing it out.  A little too much White Zen.
Will

macy’s did not have to remove the display, they chose to remove the display- as i choose to remove myself from macy’s.

And, tell me again, how many gay Senators are there? That would be 0, except for the closeted ones. And, how many gay groups were at the White House to “counsel” the President on this issue before his speech this week? That would also be 0. It is getting so bad that a major department store has to remove gay MANNEQUINS because of pressure from the religious right.  Unfortunately, we will not disappear and neither will our children.

to rant #11426; “since when does a behaviour merit protection under civil rights?” when its part of the human condition, like ignorance. basic common sense, not astute theological understanding, is required here- not the comparing of consensual adult behavior with incest or bestiality. get used to people demanding their inalienable rights as long as i’m around and paying taxes.

I’m weary of gay marriage supporters tying their cause into civil rights.

Since when does a behavior merit protection under civil rights?  What’s next:  marrying your sister or your dog?

Basic common sense, not astute theological understanding, is required here - sadly, this guy has neither.

You make a several good points about the hypocrisy that exist on many levels on the issue of gay marriage. Among many things I resent about the statements coming from the republican leadership, besides being shallow and ridiculous, is they insult people’s intelligence while denigrating the Constitution for their own purposes. They make a grand show of being true patriots yet they are willing to drag one of the most important documents that are basic to what is left of our democracy into the gutter by making a mockery of its intent. The Constitution is not a piñata for every wing nut to take a whack at when ever they feel the urge to grandstand. They spew and blather about the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman though they are not above making a little whoopee with prostitutes as has been revealed in the congressional and lobby scandals. There is no empirical data worth calling empirical that says gay marriage is doing anything to undermine American culture or that children are harmed by having gay parents. But then as recent history has shown the republican leadership cares little about facts though they view themselves as hard headed pragmatists, another way of saying their world view is a of a very cynical type where it is seen as positive a attribute that money is their only god.