Support For Same Sex Marriage Grows

[Ben Kenobi]

That was weak, KH.

Make an argument and rather then defend it, you put the other person on ignore.

[chequita guevara]

Some ass deleted my message.

[chequita guevara]

That was weak, KH.

Make an argument and rather then defend it, you put the other person on ignore.

What's the point? You'll ignore it mostly, cherry picking parts that you can make wild assertions and lies about. Arguing with you is like beating ones head on a brick wall. You are impervious to facts or logic. All you do is spew lies.

[DanS]

It weakens traditional families, like divorce has done. It also leads to fewer marriages, and fewer kids born inside those marriages. I think illegitimacy is up something like 5x what it was prior to 1950.

I see gay marriage as an extension of no-fault divorce, and will exacerbate the same problems we've seen associated with divorce. Fatherless children, are much more likely to join a gang, get arrested, the whole nine yards, and that is the biggest result of divorce. Tell me how gay marriage is going to change this development, when it asserts, just the opposite that the problem is that there is only one parent and not two, rather then having a mom and a dad?

I agree with the divorce bit (except that gay marriage is a symptom rather than a cause), but realize that this argument can be turned on its head with regard to gay marriage. Gay marriage could help stabilize gay relationships, which would be good for society.

[Jon Miller]

I agree with the divorce bit (except that gay marriage is a symptom rather than the cause), but realize that this argument can be turned on its head with regard to gay marriage. Gay marriage could help stabilize gay relationships, which would be good for society.

Exactly!

JM

[DaShi]

May 2, 2009, 13:54
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Ben Kenobi
This message is hidden because Ben Kenobi is on your ignore list.

Sorry, honey. You're back on ignore. I'll give you another chance in 6 months or so.

for ignore.

for only 6 months

[KrazyHorse]

I know, I have too much faith in humanity.

But hope springs eternal.

[chequita guevara]

The hell you do.

[GePap]

The difference between civil unions and marriage is not "just semantics" because when it comes to the law, semantics is of fundamental importance. All estate and benefits laws out there were drafted prior to the concept of civil unions, and the term does not exist in any of them. Anyone who thinks that all one has to do is pass a law that says "civil unions = marriage for all times" is fooling themselves because that is not how the law works, at least in this country. To make those two trully eqaul, you would have to go back and ammend every single law that grants married people some benefit that non-married people have and insert "civil union" in there. Many gay couples are forced to spend tens of thousands on lawyers just to create a parallel legal structure that doesn't even really equal that which is granted by just going to a county clerk and getting a marriage license for whatever small amount of money one is charged.

Given that the state, not religious organizations, define who is married to whom, the state is free to change its working definiton at will - regardless of religious opinions. Nothing in changing the state's own laws would force religious institutions to perform rituals they don't want to perform.

[Drake Tungsten]

The difference between civil unions and marriage is not "just semantics" because when it comes to the law, semantics is of fundamental importance.

This sentence makes no sense.

[Ben Kenobi]

I agree with the divorce bit (except that gay marriage is a symptom rather than a cause), but realize that this argument can be turned on its head with regard to gay marriage. Gay marriage could help stabilize gay relationships, which would be good for society.

That's not been the case here. The big desire for gay marriage up here is so that when the breakups arise, they have access to division of property via divorce.

We had 0 gay marriages among residents of BC here in like 2 years. Gay people are not all that interested in marriage. However, we have started to see a lowering of the marriage rate, and an increase in out of wedlock births.

[Asher]

The difference between civil unions and marriage is not "just semantics" because when it comes to the law, semantics is of fundamental importance.

This sentence makes no sense.

It does if you twist your mind Twister-style.

He's saying it is semantics, but semantics are important in law.

[Koyaanisqatsi]

Maine is official:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30602151/

Maine enacts law allowing gay marriages
State becomes fifth to do so; New Hampshire could decide later today
The Associated Press
updated 12:59 p.m. ET, Wed., May 6, 2009

AUGUSTA, Maine - Gov. John Baldacci signed a bill Wednesday allowing gay marriages, making Maine the fifth state in the nation to do so.

Earlier Wednesday, the Maine Senate voted 21-13, with one absent, for a bill that authorizes marriage between any two people rather than between one man and one woman, as state law currently allows. The House had passed the bill Tuesday.

Debate was brief. Senate President Elizabeth Mitchell, D-Vassalboro, turned the gavel over to an openly gay member, Sen. Lawrence Bliss, D-South Portland, to preside over the final vote.

Republican Sen. Debra Plowman of Hampden argued that the bill was being passed "at the expense of the people of faith."

"You are making a decision that is not well-founded," warned Plowman.

But Senate Majority Leader Philip Bartlett II said the bill does not compel religious institutions to recognize gay marriage.

"We respect religious liberties. ... This is long overdue," said Bartlett, D-Gorham.

Maine became the fourth state in New England to allow same-sex marriages. Connecticut enacted a bill after being ordered to allow gay marriages by the courts, and Vermont passed a bill over the governor's veto. Massachusetts' high court has ordered the state to recognize gay marriages.

New Hampshire's House was also expected to vote on a gay marriage bill Wednesday and send it to Gov. John Lynch, a Democrat who has not indicated whether he would sign the legislation.

In Rhode Island, a bill to legalize same-sex marriage has been introduced but is not expected to pass this year.

Outside New England, Iowa is recognizing gay marriages on court orders. The practice was briefly legal in California before voters banned it.

[MOBIUS]

No stemming the tide now, Ben - there'll be perfectly legally married gays living all over the US before long...

A couple could even move in right next to you!

[Q Classic]

There's already a group in Maine that wants to convert this to a referendum so they can ban gay marriage.