"Marriage is not defined by who is denied it. When gay people share
in the freedom to marry, it doesn't change your marriage, it doesn't change Tony Perkins' marriage.
My marriage is my marriage. And it means that I'm able to share
in the same aspirations of commitment and love and support and dedication and
connectedness, and that my parents are able to dance at our wedding. And our family
and friends are able to support and celebrate and hold us accountable for the
commitment we've made to one another. That takes nothing away from anyone
else... The gay people are not going to use up all the marriage licenses when
we enter marriage. And this is not just somebody saying it. We now have nine
states including the District of Columbia, fourteen countries on four
continents in which gay people share in the freedom to marry and the result is
families are helped and no one is hurt."
Like Wolfson, I’m still waiting for some heterosexual couple
to make their appearance, state, and
prove, their case that same-sex marriage ruined their marriage.
Yeah, won’t happen.
Samuel
Joseph Wurzelbacher, AKA Joe The dumber, er, Plumber, having a sadz because he
can’t call queers queer:
"30 years ago
we use to play a game called “smear the queer;” a game where whoever had the
football got gang tackled. It was a normal. If you had the ball, you were the
queer, because no one else had the ball, and having the ball made you odd or
“queer” in that respect. Of course, you could throw the ball to another player
and the pack would quickly turn to smear that queer, without regard to his or
her sexuality, I might add. Queer, gay, homo, fag meant nothing having to do
with what you were attracted to and no one committed suicide, got beat up or
even called names in that regard. That was my experience. Then, about ten
years later, the media and the ever-tolerant Hollywood (not), began portraying
homosexual (men) on television and film as the “Funny” one or the one you felt
sorry for – just to get us used to the idea. C’mon – who didn’t laugh at Paul
Lynde or Charles Nelson Reilly? And not until Ellen demanded her character come
out of the closet (which she was summarily fired for) did gay characters litter
the big and small screen alike, whether it was important or not. (Just to go a
little further with this point, Hollywood will put “gay” characters in TV
show/movies that are not relevant to the plot. They try to portray this as
“Normal” America. I can tell you right now, when I’m tossing the football with
my son in front of the house, I have never seen 2 men hand in hand prancing
down the street. You?"
Out of the mouths of morons ...
Joe, you’re an
idiot, Gay people, fags, homos and queers, have been name-called, beaten, and
murdered for years, even as far back as your tiny mind can fathom … 30 years
ago. Times change. The
use of words change.
And I imagine two
men wouldn’t be caught dead holding hands in front of your house because you
might try to smear the queer.
Grow up, Joe, your
fifteen minutes is up. You were irrelevant in 2008 and you’re irrelevant today. Get a job.
"If there's one thing you don't mess with in life, it's love. My
parents and all the other gay and lesbian people here want to be happy, just
like you. All they want is to be treated fairly. But unlike most of you, they
have to come again here year after year and explain over and over why their
love is equal to yours. This year, you have the opportunity to change that. I
say, choose love.”
Out of the mouths of babes …..
"To legalize marriage between two
people of the same sex would enshrine in the law the principle that mothers and
fathers are interchangeable or irrelevant, and that marriage is essentially an
institution about adults, not children; marriage would mean nothing more than
giving adults recognition and benefits in their most significant relationship.
How can we do this to our children? No matter what the Supreme Court rules,
this debate is not over. Marriage is too important and the issues raised by
treating same-gender unions as marriages are too fundamental to just go
away. Just as Roe v. Wade did
not end the conversation about abortion, so a ruling that tries to import
same-sex marriage into our Constitution is not going to end the marriage
debate, but intensify it. We will have a bitterly polarized country divided on
the marriage issue for years if not generations to come."
Howsabout, rather than thinking
of a child having a mother and a father, Howsabout wishing children had a
loving parents, or parents, of either gender. Howsabout, Archbishop, shutting
your pie-hole about what’s best for children when you belong to a group that
has been raping children for decades.
Ronnie Musgrave, former Mississippi
governor, now regretting signing a law to ban adoptions for gay couples:
"After thinking about this for some
time, I realized that if you're fortunate, age and knowledge breed compassion.
The more I read the (U.S.) Constitution, the clearer it became that you just
can't deny rights to a specific class of people just because some are
uncomfortable with what they do not understand. Too many elected officials take
positions without thinking about the real impact on people and families. I am
glad Sen. Portman had the same evolution I did, but I wish all of us had the
compassion for other people to think about the impact of political positions
before making them policy."
Nicely put; people can change
their minds, but many times, if they just thought first, they might have made
the equal choice in the first place.
“They might. And if they do, they’re going to lose a large part of their
base because evangelicals will take a walk. And it’s not because there’s an
anti-homosexual mood, and nobody’s homophobic that I know of, but many of us,
and I consider myself included, base our standards not on the latest Washington
Post poll, but on an objective standard, not a subjective standard. I have
great sympathy and extraordinary admiration for Sen. Portman. I consider him a
friend and I value his work in the Senate and think he’s a great person. The
mistake is that we sometimes base our public policy decisions on how we feel,
how we think, maybe even some personal experiences, and we don’t regard a lot
of these issues from the standpoint of an objective standard."
I love how he says denying equality to one class of people,
based on his own religious indoctrination does not make him a homophobe.
Yes, it does Mike. Equal is equal, plain and simple, and
until the GOP gets that, they’ll forever be on the outside wondering how to get
back in.
"I support marriage equality for so many reasons: my father’s
experience in an internment camp and the racial intolerance his family
experienced during and after the war, the gay friends I have who are really not
all that different from me, and also because of a story I read a few years back
about a woman who was denied the right to visit her partner of 15 years when
she was stuck in a hospital bed ... My belief is rooted in a childhood nurtured
by a Christian message of love, compassion and acceptance. It’s grounded in the
fact that I was adopted and know there are thousands of children
institutionalized in various foster programs, in desperate need of permanent,
safe and loving homes, but living in states that refuse to allow unmarried
couples, including gays and lesbians, to adopt because they consider them not
fit to be parents ... In articulating all my feelings about marriage equality,
I almost don’t know where to begin. And perhaps that’s part of the problem. Why
do we have to explain ourselves when it comes to issues of fairness and
equality? Why is common sense not enough?"
Word.
"Bishop" Harry Jackson, on how much better straight marriages are for everyone involved:
"When a man and a woman are in the house, poverty is lessened. When a man and a woman are in the house, kids don’t go to prison. When a man and a woman are in the house, there’s less domestic violence. When a man and a woman are in the house, sexual abuse does not happen."
No poor straight couples?
No kids from straight marriages in prisons?
No domestic violence among straight married couples?
No such thing as spousal rape?
Apparently Bishop Jackson doesn't read a newspaper, for if her did he could find out in one sitting how unbelievably stupid a man he truly is.
"Bishop" Harry Jackson, on how much better straight marriages are for everyone involved:
"When a man and a woman are in the house, poverty is lessened. When a man and a woman are in the house, kids don’t go to prison. When a man and a woman are in the house, there’s less domestic violence. When a man and a woman are in the house, sexual abuse does not happen."
No poor straight couples?
No kids from straight marriages in prisons?
No domestic violence among straight married couples?
No such thing as spousal rape?
Apparently Bishop Jackson doesn't read a newspaper, for if her did he could find out in one sitting how unbelievably stupid a man he truly is.
After listening to some of the arguments and more punditry I have a question....
ReplyDeleteIf the Supreme Court allows marriage to continue to be a state by state function. So marriage in Washington state but not available (at this time) in Oregon.
My parents were transferred, by my Dad's company, seven times before Dad retired - between states and countries. Their rights went everywhere with them including to the other country.
Question: does that mean gay
couples will be 'trapped' in the state in which they married and isn't that economic discrimination with a very significant impact?
My dad's job went from being a mechanical engineer to a VP of the company - all of which allowed them a very nice and adventurous retirement.
My goodness! Bishop Jackson certainly must live a very sheltered life to be so oblivious to the real world. He has to be ignoring a lot of misery occurring right under his nose. Of course, if he preaches that those things wouldn't be happening in his religious Neverland, it becomes less likely that anyone would seek counseling from him if they are living abusive home lives. No doubt, he would shame and be dismissive of their pain and fear. Sadly, there are a lot of hard-hearted clergy like that!
ReplyDeleteBob,
ReplyDeleteAn excellent post. Thank you so much for posting this. I will share it with my Facebook friends and relatives, many of whom I regret to say are still clinging to their bible. Nice people but just totally unrealistic to the real world that is changing around them. They just cannot get those horse blinders off of their heads. This year's family reunion (which I organize and put on) will be very interesting. Most already knew I was gay and several younger family members are out gay but it will be interesting when I introduce my gay married friend who is the photographer that I hire every year and who all love. Some of these straight people are in such a quandary that I almost feel sorry for them. Almost.
Bob,
ReplyDeletePersonally I am looking forward to the day which is not too long in the future when these homophobes will fade away into another sad chapter of ignominy of intolerance.
RonRetired in Delaware
@The Dog's Mother
ReplyDeleteThat's THE question exactly!
Yup! And has anybody addressed it then I've missed it.
ReplyDelete(Oh, and it was 8 work related moves then add 3 after retirement so make that 11...)
I second ron's posts! hell, even fatty rush limbo said yesterday that same-sex marriage is inevitable. more people need to get with the program!
ReplyDeleteSince when has sexual abuse not happened in heterosexaual marriage? I've worked in Social Services and dealt with cases where the Dads have sexually abused the children and Mum stood aside, desperate to keep her man! Is that better than same-sex marriage?
ReplyDeleteThere are good people and bad people; what you are is not important. Who you are is.