Marriage Equality

[Malcolm]

Personally, I want the government out of the marriage business entirely. It's a religious ceremony. Leave it up to the religious institutions.

Fine by me. Take away all the laws for everyone. Then you can leave the marriage to begin when the priest, shaman, or Vegas pit boss on break finishes things. But then you're married only according to [insert faith here] and not in a sense with legal repercussions.

[GORDON]

Does that means I will never have to see another gay pride parade? If so, count me in.

[Malcolm]

Does that means I will never have to see another gay pride parade? If so, count me in.

If they can't celebrate their sexuality in public, I'm inclined to say that religious activity in public should be equally restricted. For instance, no more nativity scenes outside church walls, even if it's church property. Fuck religion enjoying special protection because some old dudes years ago forgot to include it in the same category as the gender or genders that make you hard/wet.



Edited By Malcolm on 1393469054

[GORDON]

Why do you keep assuming that I want things that I don't like forbidden? I keep arguing that the government should not have this power. Religions should NOT be protected from criticism or exclusion.

I have no desire to see another gay pride parade, because I think if you need to celebrate what gets your cock hard then you are pretty much a pathetic loser. I never said they should be outlawed.



Edited By GORDON on 1393469727

[Vince]

Personally, I want the government out of the marriage business entirely. It's a religious ceremony. Leave it up to the religious institutions.

Fine by me. Take away all the laws for everyone. Then you can leave the marriage to begin when the priest, shaman, or Vegas pit boss on break finishes things. But then you're married only according to [insert faith here] and not in a sense with legal repercussions.

I'm okay with that. The government adds nothing to my marriage to make it better.

[Malcolm]

You might be ok, but something tells me that other people might get uppity if they're not considered "universally" married, be they straight, gay, bi, or other.



Edited By Malcolm on 1393476720

[Vince]

You might be ok, but something tells me that other people might get uppity if they're not considered "universally" married, be they straight, gay, bi, or other.

I would hazard a guess that it would mostly be the gay community that wouldn't be okay with it, and mostly just the very vocal assholes we are hearing from now. They seem to be the ones with the motto of "Love and accept me or I'm suing".

For most straight people it' something between them, their partner and God. Or in the case of most men, it's because they wanted to keep having sex with their girlfriends and decided she was a keeper.

[TPRJones]

Personally, I want the government out of the marriage business entirely. It's a religious ceremony. Leave it up to the religious institutions.

I agree. I'd much rather see marriage be a matter of private contract and/or religious ceremony and the government only being involved only as far as required by whatever contract the individuals decide on requires. But as long as marriage comes with legal implications for taxes, healthcare decisions, children, death, and everything else it impacts then this fight will continue on.

[TPRJones]

I think if you need to celebrate what gets your cock hard...

Putting a halt to the celebration of what gets cocks hard would shut down 90% of our economy.

[TPRJones]

For most straight people it' something between them, their partner and God.

And their tax accountant, and their doctor, and their lawyers, and the nurse trying to keep them from visiting their spouse in the hospital, and the long-avoided bigoted parents now keeping them away from the funeral of the person they spent their entire adult life with, and anyone that would try to take away their spouse's children away to foster care because they are no longer "legally married".

There are a whole shit-load of very good reasons that gays are fighting for marriage. The lack of it has ruined many lives and made for some fucking awful tragedies. Make light of that all you like, but it's still true.

[Vince]

Personally, I want the government out of the marriage business entirely. It's a religious ceremony. Leave it up to the religious institutions.

I agree. I'd much rather see marriage be a matter of private contract and/or religious ceremony and the government only being involved only as far as required by whatever contract the individuals decide on requires. But as long as marriage comes with legal implications for taxes, healthcare decisions, children, death, and everything else it impacts then this fight will continue on.

My druthers would be a flat tax where marriage doesn't matter. But outside of that, you can file jointly with anyone you cohabitate with for at least 6 months out of the year. If you file jointly with them, the government considers them a "domestic partner" for that year. So if a couple splits up or divorces or whatever, they take in their taxes to family court and they say, "Okay, you were domestic partners for X years, you get this and you get that."

[GORDON]

I think if you need to celebrate what gets your cock hard...

Putting a halt to the celebration of what gets cocks hard would shut down 90% of our economy.

Care to explain? And don't be liberal with the definition of "celebration." I am talking about people who base their identity on the type of hole they like to fuck.

[TPRJones]

Care to explain? And don't be liberal with the definition of "celebration."

I am being liberal with that definition in order to be a bit of a smart-ass. A more realistic number would be more like 20%.

Gay men are no different from straight men when it comes to being blatant about what they like and not afraid to flaunt it in public. The only difference is what they like. For every gay pride parade there's a whole boat load of strip clubs and adult porn palaces that aren't any less blatant. For every gay man strutting his stuff down the street there's a dozen stereotypical construction workers cat-calling after some lady in a tight shirt and yoga pants.

Most men are fundamentally men, no matter what hole they like to put it in.

EDIT: Actually, 20% is probably too low. 20% for the blatant parts, and another 20% for the more discreet for a total of 40%. I think that's probably more reasonable.



Edited By TPRJones on 1393517767

[Vince]

For every gay pride parade there's a whole boat load of strip clubs and adult porn palaces that aren't any less blatant.

Strip clubs and porn palaces don't ride floats down Main Street where I live. Actually, the city is pretty particular as to where they CAN be.

[TPRJones]

Actually, the city is pretty particular as to where they CAN be.

Depends on where you live, I guess. Here they are anywhere that someone decides to open one. We don't do zoning laws, that sort of thing is for communist dictators.

[GORDON]

I don't consider a catcall or strip joint to be anything like a parade. In fact, I would suggest that in some cities, there are more gay bars than there are "straight" strip clubs that often feature girl-on-girl.

Show me a straight pride parade, and I am right there with you.

[TPRJones]

Mardi Gras comes fairly close. There's no official straight pride parades, of course, because our society is already soaking in hetersexual sex. Marketing is sex. Movies are sex. TV is sex. The internet especially is all about sex.

We've still got a thin veneer of respectability in some places, but there's no denying that sex is a strong driving force behind most of our culture. I find it hard to begrudge the other side a parade or two.

[GORDON]

I find it hard to begrudge the other side a parade or two.

And being more equal than others under the law?

[TPRJones]

Not at all. If you'll read back I've never thought special protection for anyone was justified. Just equal protection, where protection exists. All in all I'd see less protection for everyone than we have now as I think government has gotten out of hand, but if it's going to be there it damn well should be equal and even-handed about what it does.

[Vince]

Just saw a story about a military vet with a service dog being denied entry to a restaurant with his service dog. A reader made the comment that he should have claimed his dog was gay and no one would have dared refused him service.