Gay Marriage.....
 

.... was on the ballot in Maine, Maryland, Washington and Minnesota. The Christian Right and the Catholic Church spent tons and tons of money trying to defeat these measures. All but Minnesota passed the measures.

Any thoughts?

John

Amazingly, there wasn't much hoopla at all here in Maryland. I'm not sure I saw a single ad on the topic, unlike the gambling initiative for which commercials played constantly. It seems MD was quite ready for this law.

I'm all for same sex marriage provided the chicks are hot. :D

More seriously, though, this is something that I've softened my position against as I've aged. I used to be concerned that gay married couples could adopt kids and then the kids would think, what, am I so screwed up that only gays would take me? :(

But as I've mellowed and learned more about the adoption system I have also come to realize that there are intermediaries in the process that don't adopt kids out willy-nilly. They make sure they are a match and the kids want to be adopted by that particular couple. Those kids would benefit from being in a home with parents that they can relate to. They would also have the added security that legal marriage brings, such as one spouse being able to secure health insurance for the family and inclusion in the structure for intestate succession. Those are probably the most valuable benefits to allowing gay marriage and they would help in the big picture IMO.

My redneck side still gets irked by them if they get flamboyant but I could make a deal. Stop acting like fags on TV and I'll vote for gay marriage rights if given the chance. I'm so sick of seeing dudes kissing on TV I can't stand it. Just the other night some dudes sprung a kiss on TV and I groaned. My wife laughed at me. :D

Sincerely,
Archie Bunker

I was against it when I was young. But, back then I was a small town Ohio redneck who thought the Good Lord made queers so's we'd have someone to bully-n-harass for entertainment.

Then I found out one of my sisters was gay. That changed things. Anyone bullying or harassing MY sister was in for it. Then , I met some friends of hers, a lesbian couple who were raising a son. (Artificial insemination.) Not only did the guy turn out okay (and straight), but he turned out to be very well adjusted. Today he's a Major and flies fighter jets for the Air Force. That changed the rest.

Sooooo......What's the big deal?

Regards,
Dave

Good for those states. This is so simple, it's never OK to deny a right(marriage contract) from any citizens. Hell, I'm even ambivalent about polygamy. Must've been all of the Heinlein that I've read.:) Patty and I have always felt this way. Some years back we would go to our friends place (mostly gay guys)for a pre Tkanksgiving feast, potluck style. It was the best group of people that we've met. It was disconcerting at first to be flirted with by a lumberjack looking dude (a bear)but it was all in good fun. I just hid behind Patty. One year I made up a whole tray of cream puffs (20 or so) and brought them with us, they were the hit of the party:cool:First time I ever heard Magnepan's was there. Too bad he moved up to Seattle, those feasts were the best food I've ever eaten. Just regular folk, IMO.

I've been saying this for a decade: Lots of people are going to look very foolish in the not-so-distant future for making such a huge deal out of gay marriage, as if it actually genuinely hurts anyone, at all. I'm glad to see things heading decisively in the direction of legalizing gay marriage, even though there's still a long way to go.

Isn't Obama claiming a man-date? :p

Pete

There were a few ads on TV against same sex marriage, mostly consisting of outright lies. The new Bishop in Charm City spoke against it, but he seems to be against everything.

We are straight, just not narrow, we had an expression in Quebec "tete de pioche" literally translated it means "hoe head" meaning your mind is about as wide as the edge of a hoe blade.

Again, there are much bigger problems than gay marriage. I wasn't a huge proponent at first, but I notice the world hasn't come to an end, and we have had it here for more than 7 years.

Then again, we are nothing but a nation of heathen communists.

And Jimi Hendrix was gay too. Remember in Purple Haze how he sang "Excuse me while I kiss this guy."

Regards,

D-Ray

ROFL!!

Pete

Besides if you read the church vows marriage is not between a man and a woman but between a man and his female slave - "serve and obey?" Or "wives submit yourselves to your husband"?.

I can imagine that many women would consider a lesbian lifestyle if taking those vows was the only other option.

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/...33&version=NIV

Pete

There's a country song for that. :D

Put Another Log on the Fire, Tompall Glaser
http://youtu.be/9wO_6wMRS7A

You need to upgrade those cans, Don, "Kiss the sky" heh,heh.:D

They were left on the cutting room floor at our wedding.:)

Oops! Forgot my smiley.

Regards,

D-Ray

My family is quite the modern family. We have gays, whites,blacks,protestants,catholics,jews. We are actually quite confused. My gay sister and her partner have one child through insemination and adopted a second black child. The kids are the most well adapted children you would meet. I believe they should have the same rights as the rest of us. Not sure about topics like polygamy.

So if you are a tea party member, you must have been in before it was infiltrated/appropriated by the social conservatives?

Regards,

D-Ray

LMAO!!!!

Pete

You're wrong about the vote in Minnesota. The vote "YES or NO" was to define marraige between one man & one woman, which would put all kinds of restrictions for anyone wishing to be a same-sex couple. The vote "NO" won, so the bill was defeated, which opens up the possibillity to have a new vote for gay marraiges to now pass in Minnesota during the next election, 2 years from now. There were a lot of pissed off right-wing religeous zealots in Minnesota last Wednesday morning..... :D




Indy

Hey, Indy -

I thought there were two ballot measures. There was the one you mentioned which would have inserted the "traditional" one man, one woman definition into the state constitution and another which would have specifically permitted same sex marriage. Both lost. Am I mistaken?

Just checked Ballotpedia. Looks like I am wrong. You guys only had the marriage amendment and a voter ID law to vote on. Both failed!!!! Gotta love those Minnesota DFL and Independent voters!

John

Hey, maybe Jesse will move to Bachmann's district and run against her as an I or a L! I really can't help liking that guy. :D

John

With the exception of Michelle Bachman being re-elected by a very slim margin in "a mostly" republican district, Minnesota did well. The House & the Senate are both back in the the hands of the Dems, and with a Dem Governor, things should get straightened out rather quickly around here.

Minnesota did give the Tea-Bag movement a shot here for the last 2 years, but as you can see by the results Tuesday night, they didn't like what "the party of no" was all about. If the Tea-Baggers/Repubs continue this way in Washington over the next couple of years, I'm pretty sure we will see the same thing happen there in 2014 as well.




Indy

I didn't see Graves as a particularly strong candidate. When you couple that with the demo for that district, things look decidedly bleak for Queen Tea.

I think we'll see that nationally. Whatever their ideology, Americans want to get things done. All the tea stained Republicans can do is interfere. They have no viable agenda and no respect for the proper role of government.

John

I'm all for gay marriage. My problem is with any government advantage given to those that are married. There is no longer a good reason for those married to get special treatment IMHO.

What, specifically, do you believe to be anachronistic or otherwise inappropriate?

What about the little "nuts and bolts" stuff like spousal benefits on insurance policies, hospital visitation rights or (gasp) conjugal visitation for prisoners?

John

I would be surprised if he wasn't talking about the tax benefits afforded to breeders. Gasp!:)

How does a little tax break for replacement (two kids) and a penalty for three and above sound to you guys & gals? Free vasectomies & tubal ligations!!;)