Does "homophobia" really mean hating gays? [Warning: graphic]

[nimchimpsky]

Originally Posted by Cunucu Beach

Straight people usually marry the person of their choice but "marrying someone you love" is not a right. That comes as a privilege that has evolved in Western society. There is a difference between rights and privileges. Yes, heterosexuals usually get to marry someone they love or at least care about but marriage not infrequently is a matter of convenience. No question about it that gay people do not have the privilege of marrying the person they love unless they live in a state where same-sex marriage is legally recognized.

Privilege or right, in either case, straights have it and gays don't. Whether marriage is a privilege or a right is a whole other debate in itself.

[nimchimpsky]

Originally Posted by Cunucu Beach

I see where your argument lies concerning this issue and constitutional law but I see it as a stretch. Sex is a protected class and as such, federal law prohibits discrimination based upon the sex of a person. No law exists prohibiting any person of either sex from getting married so there is no sexual discrimination concerning who can marry and who cannot. Am I right, so far? People with same sex orientation, however, are not a protected class of people on the federal level and, from what I have been able to glean from internet searches, are protected from various kinds of discrimination only on the state and local level e.g. housing and workplace harassment. I do not see a real precedent for the SC to declare laws against same sex marriage unconstitutional but I'm not a legal scholar. However, I have no doubt that liberal judges on the Court will see otherwise.

It's not sexist in the sense that men and women can both get married. But the sexism comes in when you talk about who you can marry. The fact that as a woman you can only marry men is technically sexist against woman. And the fact that as a man you can only marry a woman is technically sexist against men.