Gay Marriage

[sparklekaz]

I would love to hear your views on the Gay Marriage debate that is currently being discussed by the media and is in the process of being put forward as a bill in parliament?

[gruntal]

So where were we? Cross cultural stereotypes via the media. We colonists must love to shoot it out with each other because that is all you see in our "Westerns". My most immediate peek of things acccross the Atlantic is the BBC shows we can watch on here on "Public Television". Judging by many things I see, even the respectible science fiction series Torchwood I can guess homosexuality is rampant if not universal on the Island of Sodor. It is much more rare here except for of course San Francisco and parts of West Hollywood and some downtown areas.

My home town Long Beach hosted the Miss Universe Pageant up untill the 1960's replete with a grand parade of smiling (female) air heads on Ocean Avenue; now it is the Gay & Lesbian Pride Festival that parades down the same street!

Half the onlookers are only there to throw rocks on behalf on the local moral decentcy leauge.

If this sounds like a joke it is because to me, trying to keep the peresquisite 500 feet distance from the others for sanitary and emotional reasons, anything even remotely intimate seems too risky. So maybe I am the joke but realistically some things like abortion and gay rights I don't need or even have much opinion on except as a possible alliance. It's like you support me in my pet cause and I'll do the same for you. But that doesn't really answer the question of rather you think it is right or expedient or just nobodies business if it doesn't hurt or concern anyone.

The best answer I do have is here in the colonies we have quite a lot a proposed laws outlawing Same Sex Marriages that have passed but that as always side steps to me the more basic question: why is the state getting involved in marriage to begin with? I though it was the churches that were suposed to do that. States grant tax exemptions and even brother-sister or mother-son units could really benefit from doing a sort of incorporation. Unless your on welfare and then you can not afford to get married and loose your benefits.

I might make an exemption to the 500 feet safety rule on Valentines Day ..............

[Leon]

I agree with Gruntal, it should be down to the churches who decide if Gay marriages are ok or not. Though I do believe that some things should be left as they are. In this case marriage is an example of what is classed as the norm. The norm being a partnership between a man and a woman. There is nothing wrong with gay people, they have chosen their path and good luck to them. But some things should not be changed, in this case you are sending mixed messages out to generations of the future. The message should be clear, if you want a family life like your parents, you should do as they did. Obviously people cannot help how they feel, and if they are attracted to the same gender, then you must not try to stop the flow of the tide.

In Greek times, they wrote stories, to try to tell people what was good for you and bad for you, I am not saying being gay is bad for you. I am saying that the Greeks pointed out that if you mixed an animal with man, you would create a beast. These were taboos, not that they was all sinful, but you would create something that you had no control over.

In this case gay people should be allowed rights in every country of the world, it is not a sin. You do not know who you will fall in love with. But some things should be left sacred, for nothing more than an example of a normal family life to the children of the future.

[jerboa]

I think its upto the individuals to decide what is best for them, as opposed to anyone else or any rules/laws or traditions. People should have the right to say no and turn them away, if its abhorrent or rationally wrong, although I feel it'd be unfair if I was to do so.

From what I know of gay, lesbian and bisexual folk they can in certain circles get a fair deal of abuse already. Continuing that exclusion of them or denying them further freedom of feeling could lead to a greater degree of separation between those individuals and society (people, attitudes, wishes or wants don't disappear from neglecting to allow them freewill). The knock on effects and time could lead to people who are bitter and work from the shadows due to having no support/connection to others and such folk are not easy to communicate with in any state.

Also I don't box those character types to just gay, lesbian or bisexual, they exist in every social group or faction (if thats the right word) even if sometimes the actual causes can be misread. Perceived offense is not really any different to offense, and one bad event can cause a person to create links between previous bad events and if there are enough of them that leads to a whole kettle of pandora's boxes.

Edit: This is mostly based on my own personal experiences of being mistreated and how such things unfold. I don't mean to say that everyone could come to hiding from the world as a whole. Just that the above seems to be the case when it comes to divides from my own understanding. I'm open to thinking differently about it, as it never works as I've anticipated at the time and knowing exactly why it began is like looking for a rain drop in the ocean. Other people probably have better luck with understanding such things.

[con]

Homosexuality is out of sync with Mother Nature. It is a use
of the human body for which nature never intended. I am not aware of any other
mammal in nature, in a normal environment that rejects the opposite sex and
embrace the same sex for long term sexual stimulus. In my opinion it goes
against nature. It is a perversion of nature.

Secondly I have chosen the Bible as my moral compass. It
clearly states both in the Old and New Testament that homosexuality is wrong.
It is something that offends God i.e. sinful.

God does not change his standards over time unlike us
humans. What was sinful to God in the beginning is still sinful today and will
be tomorrow.

Today’s society however under a cloak of  ‘liberalisation and freedom of choice’

allows immoral behaviour to become acceptable and soon after it becomes the norm.

Gay people cannot help the feeling of attraction to the same
sex but they do make a choice whether to physically act out their impulses or
to restrain it. Just like an alcoholic tries to fight the bodies desire for a
drink or a thief fights the urge to steal.

I am not anti Gay people. They are our brothers and sisters
and they deserve to be treated with the same love and respect as any human being but I am anti the act of
homosexuality or any behaviour that encourages it because it is something that
is distasteful to God.

I guess by now you know where I stand on Gay marriage.

[markings]

My thoughts:
To be legally married people should have to do that at a government office. No exceptions, church and costomary marriages would be extras with no legal powers whatsoever.

Governments should change the terminology from marriage to civil union, i.e. marriage as a legal concept would cease to exist. A civil union would be a formally established relationship between two people, irrespective of gender or sex. Such relationships would have the same powers and duties as marriage currently has.

The churches can then do whatever they want and people will have a choice in that respect.