Since everyone wants to talk about sexual orientation, where do hermaphrodites(like mrford) come into this mix, I mean they cannot control the way they were born, and from what i've heard many of them swing both ways, because they have mixed organs. Does anyone look at them like they are gay? no, not really, because they were born this way. Do you guys know that sigourny weaver was born a hermaphrodite? But her parents decided she was going to be a girl and had her male parts cut out.

I have no problem with gays being in a relationship or having a 'life partner'.

How ever marriage is a religious concept. It is something that should be ruled on by the church. (Please note I am not religious nor do I believe in any of the deity's that are currently on offer. )

Under the law it should be renamed, something that is available to everyone. de-facto relationship? life partner? Something simple like that.

This way the religious nut jobs are happy, the gays are happy, and people like me who dont really give a fluff and are happy for people to do what they want as long as it doesn't affect me, dont have to listen to the fluffing from both sides...

http://elitedaily.com/...ploads/2012/11/mQt0s.jpeg

I federal trumps state laws but since nowhere in the constitution does it say gays, or straights can get married so it falls to the states to regulate this. Untill there is a new amendment in the federal government then it should fall to the states and dare I say it the supreme court is in the wrong. Boltar is thinking of the supremacy clause

I don't actually give a crap about the legal side, for me it's the word marriage and it's religious connotations that bother me.

Can't it just be called a civil union? same tax/inheritance/insurance/etc rights... ?

SOme son of a fluff is going to freak out on a pastor/priest/etc from a religion that doesn't recognize a persons homo-orientation and instead see's it as an abomination(which is their constitutionally protected right, BTW), and try and force the issue of a church-accepting it because "it's the law and they have rights" while stripping that church man of his rights and beliefs.

Either EVERYONE has their rights, or no one does. Find this post in the next 3-5 years once they've decided the bill of rights is just too old/passe or w/e and needs 'updating' for political correctness issues.

You know, more religions and cultures have the concept of 'marriage' than just Christians. Every incredibly secular countries have marriage...I think part of the problem is many christians 'claiming' marriage for their own, when it's the exact opposite.

Tella shoots and scores!

Bluecow, nullification.

this is fear mongering. the government is not going to force churches to accept gay marriages.

Yessir.

#rekt

+1

Any who let them get all get married... but the churches still maintain their rights to deny the wedding at their church. I remember there was a big deal over this couple years back.

If they wanted to, it would be as simple as threatening their tax-exempt status that all religions enjoy (unless you aren't a mainstream enough religion that is!) on grounds that they promote hate. This move would not be at all dissimilar to want Elizabeth Dole did with federal highway funds when she linked them to the minimum drinking age, forcing every state in the union to raise theirs to 21.

Uhm you realize that is actually a good thing. World is being way overpopulated as it is so this would just help fix that lol.

oh goody, a gay rights activist bragging about how the gay pepples got away with abusing the democratic system of government that replaced the republic for which the flag stands. please hold, i feel a fart about to escape in your general direction... it is not an invitation for sex.

Not exactly. Viewpoint-based threats (including those that target hate groups) have and would continue to run afoul of the First Amendment.

bingo. even liberal groups would be against that sort of nonsense and I can't see any court upholding the law.

living in one of the first countries to legalize gay marriage I will say this.
After the supreme court ruling, the relevant governments amended all legislation to comply and life went on.
The world didn't end. The various religious institutions that didn't believe in it continued on internally as they always have.

The net impacts to the general population were this:
1) tourism went up = $$$
2) public opposition to it has dropped significantly and it has pretty much disappeared from political discourse here. We have a right wing federal government who is somewhat socially conservative (by our standards) and they don't really bring it up either.
and that's pretty much it

oh yeah I should add that under Canadian law there are some differences between being common-law (civil union/whatever) vs being married. Don't ask me what they are but they can be important when it comes to certain thnigs.

tourism went up? gay married pepples are some kinda tourist attraction in Canada? are they required to perform their sex acts in the front window or something?

nah, they come here to get married and bring their guests who all spend their money.

gay marriage and gay pride combined are worth several $billion to our economy so keep it illegal down there just so we can take your $$$ :P

Bonus!

meh, just because you can train a dog to salivate whenever you ring a bell, doesn't mean that it's ethical to go around doing it for a living.

Sure it is. What is "morality" anyway....

False. You cannot legally be a member of both the Ku Klux Klan and the US Military.

If the government really wanted to ostracize a segment of the population for what they believed was archaic and seditious beliefs, they would find ways to do it. Presidents have threatened to stack the Supreme Court over less contentious matters (*cough*FDR*cough*).

One nation, under God.....since 1954....

Wit subsidies and welfare fo all.
Baby jesus
Amen.

This country has a deep belief in the constitutional idea of separation of church and state and freedom of religion.

There is no collection of politicians, that includes a local or national legislature, that would ever pass such a bill. for starters, it would outrage their constituents on both sides of the aisle. we already know conservative groups would be in a rage. i can guarantee that liberals would be up in arms as well.

one would be hard pressed to find any politician that personally believed it would be a good idea to pass such a mandate. moreover, these types of precedents can only hurt you later e.g. what happens if a local community tends towards Islam or perhaps a different version of Christianity?

even still, i don't believe the courts would support any such mandate. it would be one heck of argument against the constitution.

honestly, i think this argument is projection. most religious conservatives would force their religion of us if they could. one could argue they already have. now that the shoe is on the other foot, they are scared liberals are going to act like them.

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good post martian

TLDRed this whole thread but government can suck a fluff and fluff em. let the gays marry and if god actually hates homos then whatever theyll be in hell. if god doesnt give a fluff then the evangelicals are going to look like bigger retards. if there is no god then whatever nobody cares.

This country is intolerant towards hate. If sermons still taught that it was God's will that minorities be subservient to their white masters, those religions would be coming under a ridiculous amount of scrutiny right now.

Admittedly, the current political, social, and cultural climate is not going to see any religion threatened anytime soon over Gay Marriage. However, I think we can all see the path that could one day lead there.

A much closer, and much less contentious, battle of this type that could be fought in the near future could very well be over vaccinations. There are plenty of people citing religious beliefs, often-times independent of what the religions themselves say about them, as justification to forego vaccinations.

There have been a number of issues between members of the Followers of Christ sect in Oregon and the state and local governments. The problem here is not whether people are allowed to practice their beliefs of not, but whether those beliefs put children and other members of the community at risk.

Just look at the measles outbreaks in the us for evidence of this...

idk what the problem is with vaccinations. if you dont want your kid to get sick, get the vaccination. if you think the government is evil and will give your kid autism then who is to say that your kid must get vaccinated...

bah. i have no direct knowledge of 1954... heard something about there being an invasion of alien body snatchers back then, and something about the pinko commie bastages developing mind control devices to takeover the USA... but that was probably some kinda science fiction stuff. kinda like the proof that gay peoples have that they can use to prove that they really are gay, and not just some idiots who are using the tools improperly.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/...n-home-dealers-house.html

Basically this is about two male partners that left their ten month old foster baby in a car for two hours while they sat inside and smoked marijuana. The baby died. . . I am sure this won't happen all the time, but just goes to show that gays will be just as retarded as straight couples.

I don't think anyone said LGBT people are any 'less retarded' than your standard hetero. But, TL;DR... so maybe I missed something...

No point really, just a prelude, and since it is becoming more acceptable in our society to allow people to openly express there sexual orientations free from the law and supposedly from everyone else around them. I just thought I would share the article, especially since it fits so well into this conversation. I think I remember someone mentioning in this thread or in another EE convo just like this one, that gay parents were much better than straight parents in most instances. So whoever it was that said this, eat your words, they will be just as horrible as anyone else.

dang, this thread is getting confusing....

thought it was created so that we can pay great tribute to the Great Gay Obama The Clown and all of his crazy gay minions.