Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Then I'm sorry this was your experience, and I'm sorry your friends have gone through similar situations. THAT is bigoted.
I'm surprised you find this surprising. A great deal of this country shares her attitude. That's why most gay people from rural areas move to big cities when they're 16, 17, or 18 and then choose to live in the "gay neighborhood". I'm lucky that I'm about the most masculine guy you could come across. Not being a flamer I've lucked out and avoided the amount of discrimination like this many gay men face (as well as the bullying most gay youth receive at school).
I ran the gay student group at my college. I've done some (informal) counseling with gay youth. I can't tell you how many horror stories I've heard from gay teenagers (or from gay adults about their teenage years) who grew up in rural areas (or in Mormon households). I've talked to more than one teenager who was run out of his house at gunpoint at 14 or 15 when his father found out he was gay and was threatened with death if he ever returned. It's hard to fully quantify this, but studies suggest that about half of all homeless teenagers are gay.
I have a good friend (heterosexual female) who this past fall took a position teaching English at a small high school in a small town in Arizona (she's the only English teacher for the whole school - it's that small). She assigned a creative writing project that involved incorporating bits of the students favorite comedy acts. As part of the class, she planned to play a small clip of her favorite comedian - Eddie Izzard.
Apparently all hell broke loose when her students saw that Eddie Izzard delivers his standup routine in women's clothing. She ended up in a screaming match in which a majority of the kids kept saying over and over again that if some gay ****** like that ever came to their town they'd kill him. It took 20 minutes just to calm the class down enough to explain to them that Eddie Izzard isn't gay - he's a cross dressing heterosexual male. They refused to believe her and kept insisting they'd kill someone like that if one ever came to their town. She nearly quit that day she was so appalled at the attitude these kids had been taught.
Last edited by hammertime33; 12-17-2010 at 10:23 PM..
They certainly CAN do so. Move to a state that allows it. Marriage is NOT a civil right, it is a priviledge. If it was a civil right, this wouldn't even be an issue. If the SCOTUS ruled that it IS a civil right, then what is the problem? It would be illegal for people to be denied marriage if SCOTUS declared this a civil right. I think you are a bit confused...
Since 1888, the U.S. Supreme Court has stated 14 times that marriage is a basic civil right, including the most well known case Loving vs Virginia.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SourD
They could not have found it to be a right. If they did, why is it banned? Don't you understand that the ACLU and every other organization would be all over this if this were true? It is not true, hence why gays still can't marry.
Yes it is true. And yet in the majority of states in the US, gays and lesbians cannot marry the person of their choice unlike straight people.
Even murderers, prisoners, pedophiles, rapists and terrorists can get married, yet gays and lesbians cannot marry the person they love.
I, for one, have no problem with gay people. I just have a problem with their gayness (i.e., their lifestyle). Love the sinner, dislike the sin.
Do you realise that why you are actually saying is: "I, for one, have no problem with gay people. I just have a problem with their being gay."
Your statement doesn't really make sense if you understand what sexual orientation is. It just comes across as "I have a problem with gay people"
A gay person's "gayness" is an inherent part of who they are, just as a straight person's "straightness" is an inherent part of who they are.
Quote:
Sexual orientation is an enduring emotional, romantic, sexual, or affectional attraction toward others. It is easily distinguished from other components of sexuality including biological sex, gender identity (the psychological sense of being male or female), and the social gender role (adherence to cultural norms for feminine and masculine behavior).
Sexual orientation is different from sexual behavior because it refers to feelings and self-concept. Individuals may or may not express their sexual orientation in their behaviors.
I dislike the slogan (it's not Biblical by the way) "Love the sinner, hate the sin" when it is used to condemn gay people, because it implies that homosexuality is just some sort of chosen behaviour. There aren't any verses in the Bible that state that homosexual orientation is a sin. (in the original Hebrew or Greek and the original contexts)
You know the answer. MOVE! What else can be said? If you are unhappy with your town you live in because they raise your taxes for BS that you don't want, what do you do? Try and change the tax code or do you move if you are that unhappy? If you can't find a job that keeps you aflaot in your state, but found one in another, what do you do? Do you throw a fit and demand that they move their operations closer to you or do you get off your ass and make it happen? What makes more sense, getting all huffy and puffy and throwing tantrums or just going after what makes you happy?
So do you think women should have just moved to a different country where they could legally vote? Or should they have fought for the equal right to vote?
Do you believe women were just getting "huffy and puffy and throwing tantrums" when they fought for the right to vote?
Another opinion. You don't the difference do you? Defintely not. You could do a google search for marriage is NOT a civil right and come up with hundreds and hundreds of articles explaining how it isn't. Come on now, you too, tell me how all of these states are violating people's civil rights and getting away with it. HOW ARE THEY DOING IT?!?!?!?!
This quote from Justice Lawrence might help you understand...
In Lawrencev Texas, Justice Kennedy’s closing statement was “[Our Founding Fathers] knew times can blind us to certain truths and later generations can see that laws once thought necessary and proper in fact serve only to oppress. As the Constitution endures, persons in every generation can invoke its principles in their own search for greater freedom.”
Since 1888, the U.S. Supreme Court has stated 14 times that marriage is a basic civil right, including the most well known case Loving vs Virginia.
Yes it is true. And yet in the majority of states in the US, gays and lesbians cannot marry the person of their choice unlike straight people.
Even murderers, prisoners, pedophiles, rapists and terrorists can get married, yet gays and lesbians cannot marry the person they love.
Marriage is defined as a union between 1 woman and 1 man. That is why gay people can't marry. Men can't golf in the LPGA.
Nobody is saying that you can't love someone of the same sex.
Marriage is defined as a union between 1 woman and 1 man. That is why gay people can't marry. Men can't golf in the LPGA.
Nobody is saying that you can't love someone of the same sex.
That's incorrect. Gay people can marry in a number of countries worldwide as well as these states in the US: CT, DC, IA, MA, NH, VT, Coquille (and counting...)
Black's Law Dictionary:
marriage, n. (Bc) 1. The legal union of a couple as spouses. - The essentials of a valid marriage are (1) parties legally capable of contracting to marry, (2) mutual consent or agreement, and (3) an actual contracting in the form prescribed by law. Marriage has important consequences in many areas ofthe law, such as torts, criminal law, evidence, debtor-creditor relations, property, and contracts.
-Black’s Law Dictionary Ninth Edition 2009 Pg 1059
It is your position that hell is imaginary. As such, you don't believe in God, in which case, you are going to hell.
Living your life with a man is considered your lifestyle, and a gay one. Just like living my life with my husband is considered my lifestyle, a straight lifestyle.
It's not discrimination to disallow men from marrying other men and women from marrying other women. That is not normal. That is not something we should be encouraging. Marriage is a biblical term, meaning the covenant a man and woman make before God. If you want to make your relationship "official" then get a civil union. I have no problem with that b/c then you're not infringing upon my right to be married to a member of the opposite sex. And no, there is no difference between a civil marriage and a religious marriage...marriage is marriage whether performed by a priest or by an officiant at the courthouse (FWIW, my marriage was at the courthouse, and btw, they still use "God" language).
I also never said you were a second class citizen. I don't care what you do but keep it to yourself and don't expect to be able to get married and have access to the benefits that come with that. I also do not support adoption for gays. *bracing myself*
I couldn't care less if you dislike me, you are a faceless bunch of words on a public forum. I'm sorry you are gay but that does not give you free reign to be a jerk or say you hate people who disagree with your lifestyle/choice of partner. That's a very immature tactic to take in argumentation.
What is your definition of a religious fundamentalist? Someone who adheres to the Bible? Why would that be a bad thing? If anything, the people who choose to deviate from the Bible are the ones in the wrong, and they are not true Christians.
"I'm not hypocritical because unlike you I stop at dislike." What does this mean? I don't hate you, or even your lifestyle, I already told you this. It is not very Christian-like to hate things. I can dislike your gayness all I want, though, and I have every right to state my opinion, as you have.
I don't believe in "gay rights." I believe in rights for Americans.
The people who are pro-gay marriage should say they are for civil unions, not marriage, b/c marriage is a biblical term that does not apply to gays.
I'm don't think you should have the same rights as straight people when it comes to civil unions. Marriage is different from a civil union. If you want to make it official, fine, but don't expect it to be equal to a heterosexual marriage as far as the law. I'm not saying this against YOU as a person, but against the concept of being gay. I don't think it is right, and I don't believe we should recognize it as being right by granting the benefits of marriage to gays who do civil unions.
No, I do not believe you should be allowed to be openly gay in the military. There are so many ramifications of that. I'm sorry DADT was repealed, we'll see how things go, I guess.
Numerous states offer protection to gays in regards to the private sector. No federal gov't agency may discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation.
I'm not familiar with any restaurants or hotels that would discriminate against someone who is gay. Money is money. As a restaurant owner, I would not discriminate against someone who is gay as a customer or an employee.
If gay people didn't wear their preference on their sleeves, we wouldn't have the problems we have nowadays. Does everyone HAVE to know that you're gay??
Honestly, nobody is trying to take away your rights. You are trying to shove your sexuality down our throats and it's not right. You have every right that I have. You, however, do not have the right to marry another man since that's against the law. You have the right to marriage...just not to another man. Nobody is trying to take away your rights. Why is this all of a sudden even becoming an issue? In the last few years, I've heard nonstop racket about this from the gay community. It's getting ridiculous. If you want the same right to marriage as heterosexuals, then stop being gay. It's your choice.
Flame on.
Wow.
Some quotes come to mind after wading through this post.
“I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” - Mahatma Gandhi
"You can safely assume that you have created God in your own image when it turns out God hates the same people you do" - Anne Lamot.
“No man ever believes that the Bible means what it says: He is always convinced that it says what he means.” -George Bernard Shaw
"If any one says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen." (1 John 4:20)
"For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." (Galatians 5:14)
Whatever you say. People have been straight since the dawn of man, only later did gayness enter the picture.
Source?
For that matter when exactly do you think the "dawn of man" was?
Quote:
Originally Posted by andrea3821
Are you familiar with Sodom and Gomorrah and what happened to those cities?
What do the ancient Hebrew stories of Sodom and Gomorrah have to do with gay people?
Absolutely nothing.
The moral of the story was about inhospitality and the terrible treatment of strangers. Ask the Jews, it's their story. JewishEncyclopedia.com - HOSPITALITY.
Are you familiar with the part of the story about Lot offering up his two young virgin daughters to be gang raped? Then later, these two daughters having sex with Lot?
And Lot was considered a "righteous" man, favored by the Lord.
- 45.6 percent of married heterosexual partners are raising children.
- 43.1 percent of unmarried heterosexual partners are raising children.
- 34.3 percent of female partners are raising children. (lesbian)
- 22.3 percent of male partners are raising children. (gay)
(This is according to data from the US 2000 census. It will be interesting to see what the 2010 census shows)
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
