marriage

A federal appeals court in Boston ruled that the government's ban on gay marriage, called the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), violates the Constitution and should be struck down.
Any thoughts on gay marriage?

Gay, straight, bi...it doesnt matter to me! Whatever your preference is has nothing to do with me! Enjoy life and do what pleases you! We can have laws in place to prevent us from doing things, but its ultimately up to you to decide whats best for you. And i hate when people try to bring religion into this subject...you can reference some points in the Bible to argue against gay unions, but i also never heard the scriptures say, "love thy neighbor, unless theyre gay," or "only God can judge...unless youre gay!"

I think marriage is between 1 man & 1 woman. Same sex is a union, not a marriage. I may get slammed, but I don't think same sex "unions" should be treated the same as a "marriage". I'm just one individual thought on the subject.

I say live and let live. Who am I to judge others for their choices (or lack there of depending on what you believe)

What is marriage anyway -- A legal binding contract. Call it what you will -- Marriage, civil union, partnership -- Its all just a legal contract -- What counts is what the couple thinks -- not what the Govt tells em they can or cannot do,

Granted having that contract in place makes buying things easier and helps with insurance and such,

My thing is EVERYBODY should be happy -- PERIOD -- do what makes you happy as long as you arent hurting others, I dont see where 2 women or 2 men getting married is hurting me or anybody else

+1

>Boom, it's all the government entitlements that are given to married couples that's in question here. eg, social security survivor benefits, medicare, medicaid benefits etc., etc.. There's enough people on the dole already, that we don't need to add more. Soon it will be another entitlement that some other group wants.

I'm not against same sex unions if that's what some want but this will be used to scam the system just like all the other entitlements are scammed. I really think we need to get rid of the freebies, then it wouldn't matter.

You love who you love, and shouldnt be harassed for loving another
Gay couples should suffer with marrige like the rest of the married heteros. hehe
<3

i have to agree with max.....i just worry about the family union when come to the children on the same marrige

If gay people want to be miserable like so many married men and women today, then let them do it damn it! LOL I'm a lifelong conservative/Republican or whatever you want to call me. (Some would prefer "asshole," but that is their prerogative I guess! LOL) I cannot bring myself to join the Republicans on this issue. There is a place for government in the bedroom, in a VERY limited capacity. Basically, no marriages to or between people not of a certain age, no marrying non-persons, (can you imagine the loopholes it would create for people who could marry corporations!) no animals/humans and no incest relationships (it's not discriminatory, it more than doubles the occurrence of serious birth defects, and can be an underlying aggitator for other developmental problems, as proven by science!) and that's about it!

As far as having the same rights (retirement, medical benefits, adopting, etc.) as straight couples, why not? Assuming they will have to go through the same procedures for divorce as other people and not terminate it willingly without repercussions, then let two gay people get married. I know people get their panties in a bunch over two gay people wanting to adopt children, but it doesn't bother me. I know of a married couple with several kids who are WAY more fucked up than any gay couple's kid could be on account of this family's extreme religious beliefs. In my eyes, if the government won't object to extreme religious teachings by parents, then having two gay parents is not a problem either.

I don't know if this is the end-all/be-all on this case though. Under the court system, sexual orientation and gender are subject only to intermediate scrutiny, and NOT strict scrutiny like other suspect classifications (such as race, religious affiliation, etc.) so don't be surprised if DOMA get's upheld at a higher level.

Equal Protection Under The Law. That's why I'm for gay marriage. If you wanna call it a civil union, fine, as long as it carries ALL the same rights and responsibilities as a traditional marriage.

What are those rights? Joint filing status on taxes and the tax breaks possible from there. Hospital visitation rights. An equal chance at adoption (can you really argue that letting a child grow up as an orphan is better than that child growing up in an environment w/ two loving parents, even if their gay or lesbian? Why not let a homosexual couple try to fix what a heterosexual couple fucked up?). Inheritance. Etc. Some of these things are EASILY conferred between a heterosexual couple but are impossible or difficult or illegal for a homosexual couple.

And that's not right. That's leaving a segment of the population out of a set of rules that apply to everyone else, simply because they don't live or act or love like a majority of the population (even though it's "majority rule" in a democracy, you still have to protect minorities. If you don't, that's where animosity and rebellions start).

50 years ago certain states tried to outlaw interracial marriages. Would you agree that those laws should still be in place? Would you deny a couple to legally and publicly attest to their relationship simply because they were of different races? Well there's a parallel here. Why deny two men or two women to marry, just because you think it's icky? Consider the converse; if a majority of the population were homosexual, and they denied straight people to marry, would it be right? No? Exactly.

My thing is EVERYBODY should be happy -- PERIOD -- do what makes you happy as long as you arent hurting others, I dont see where 2 women or 2 men getting married is hurting me or anybody else.

50 years ago certain states tried to outlaw interracial marriages. Would you agree that those laws should still be in place? Would you deny a couple to legally and publicly attest to their relationship simply because they were of different races? Well there's a parallel here. Why deny two men or two women to marry, just because you think it's icky? Consider the converse; if a majority of the population were homosexual, and they denied straight people to marry, would it be right? No? Exactly.

We don't have the right to judge how someone else chooses to live their life...But we do have a right to our own opinion...

We don't have to show our ignorance by expressing it out loud....

Equal Protection Under The Law. That's why I'm for gay marriage. If you wanna call it a civil union, fine, as long as it carries ALL the same rights and responsibilities as a traditional marriage.

What are those rights? Joint filing status on taxes and the tax breaks possible from there. Hospital visitation rights. An equal chance at adoption (can you really argue that letting a child grow up as an orphan is better than that child growing up in an environment w/ two loving parents, even if their gay or lesbian? Why not let a homosexual couple try to fix what a heterosexual couple fucked up?). Inheritance. Etc. Some of these things are EASILY conferred between a heterosexual couple but are impossible or difficult or illegal for a homosexual couple.

And that's not right. That's leaving a segment of the population out of a set of rules that apply to everyone else, simply because they don't live or act or love like a majority of the population (even though it's "majority rule" in a democracy, you still have to protect minorities. If you don't, that's where animosity and rebellions start).

50 years ago certain states tried to outlaw interracial marriages. Would you agree that those laws should still be in place? Would you deny a couple to legally and publicly attest to their relationship simply because they were of different races? Well there's a parallel here. Why deny two men or two women to marry, just because you think it's icky? Consider the converse; if a majority of the population were homosexual, and they denied straight people to marry, would it be right? No? Exactly. Originally Posted by rooster120

Nothing wrong with gay marriage, or gays for that matter. More woman to go around for us guys, and what I love is the women that go both ways.... but then I may be out of line!

Anyway, lets be serious. There is nothing wrong with a man and a man, or a woman and a woman getting together for life. We need to be more understanding and besides this is not the early part or middle part of the 1900's. We have come a long way from this non-sense like blacks can't marry whites, Jews can't marry catholics, and on and on. What's more important is that we all contribute to sociaty and make an impac in a positive way to our communities before we leave this world. "Let it be love in the world".