Gay rights still stuck at impasse

Seth Michaels wrote:

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So then women past menopause shouldn't be allowed to marry? Men who are infertile are prevented from marriage since they don't serve their purpose?
Marriage is a social contract recognized by the State that grants certain rights, not a contract that requires reproduction to be valid.

I disagree with the idea of marriage as a contract. It should be based on love. Homosexuality is lust, not love.

You seem to keep changing your definition of what "marriage" is/should be.

What does love have to do with it being a state recognized social contract between consenting adults or not? Why should the State grant special priviledges to one groups contract and deny others the right to form such contracts of their own? Simply because you don't like the idea?

Dave wrote:

Devon .... quite the contrary. I am very happy .... you don't see or hear me whining about not being able to marry another man. My girl friend suits me just fine. I have a great job, and probably unlike you make an extremely high salary. Drive a new car, live in a $500,000.00 home. Have a great family and friends. In perfect health, and I can go on and on. The only thing I don't have ..... the luxury of having the Government provide everything to me. Sounds like you fit that description. And, yes I do believe in the majority rule, idiot ..... without it simpleton there would be chaos with everyone doing what they want. Be careful walking the street in Cinc. Ohio. But, I guess you really are living in the lovely Baltimore City.

More people nationwide (a half million more, in fact) voted for Al Gore in 2000 than for Mr. Bush. And 70% of Americans want the war in Iraq to end immediately. So you see where your simplistic "majority rules" gets you.

Oh, and "Valley of the Dolls" is the greatest novel in the history of American literature because it holds the record for copies sold.

They marry straights and it happens all of the time. As one of the many straights who discovered years later that the spouse is gay, I support gays marrying gays. That way there will be no social pressure for them to marry straights and create the sad wreck that almost always follows such doomed unions. It is time to let the gays live life for who they are and quit driving them underground. When you go to bed tonight, take a hard look at your spouse and ask yourself if he/she is really as straight as you think.

Homosexuality is a sexual orientation, and gay people can, and do, love.

Joe wrote:

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I disagree with the idea of marriage as a contract. It should be based on love. Homosexuality is lust, not love.

Right Wing Conspiracy wrote:

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I totally disagree. If they were ever an issue we could all rally behind and put an end to, it would be old guys in Speedos.

"Totally disagree" is pretty strong. Do you totally disagree that poly-cotton blends are proscribed under the strictest application of the entire Book of Leviticus that homophobes love to quote three lines from and conveniently ignore the rest? Do you totally disagree that the Bible's been used to defend slavery? Do you totally disagree that David dislikes Mexican food?

Good luck at your "abolish old guys in Speedos" rally.

Joe wrote:

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I disagree with the idea of marriage as a contract. It should be based on love. Homosexuality is lust, not love.

What a relief to know that what Bill Clinton had with Monica was not lust.

Dave wrote:

A lot of whining and crying by proponents of same sex marriage. You can solve your problem very easy, move to a State that allows it. It is that simple. Don't force your life style on me and the majority of Marylanders. And, don't give me that old racial BS story about civil rights. Marriage is between a man and woman, not 2 guys and 2 women. 2 guys kissing ..... aand holding hands ... it even looks stupid.

and faggotry is a sin

I don't believe these people deserve the equality that a man and woman do, they are going against the bible.If O'Malley supports this he should be excommunicated from the church. If gays and lesbians want to live together they are free to, but they should not be rewarded for their actions.

Steven Lessner wrote:

I don't believe these people deserve the equality that a man and woman do, they are going against the bible.If O'Malley supports this he should be excommunicated from the church. If gays and lesbians want to live together they are free to, but they should not be rewarded for their actions.

You are free tobelieve what you want, but this country is not based on the Bible but on the Constitution. All the gay people I know are hard working, tax paying,voting citizns and should not be treated any diffently under the law than anyone else.

Joe wrote:

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The fact of the matter is no one has a natural right to contravene what the majority of society thinks is correct.

The fact of the matter is that no one has a "right" to seize a third of the fruits of my labor and then deny me access to all of the benefits and services I'm supposed to be getting for the money.

Joe wrote:

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I disagree with the idea of marriage as a contract. It should be based on love. Homosexuality is lust, not love.

(1) The only thing discussed here is the civil institution of marriage, and it is a package of legal benefits offered by the state to its citizens who do in fact form a contract with each other.

(2) Your claim that "homosexuality is lust, not love" (by which I assume you mean that it's *always* so - of course some same-sex pairings aren't based on love, as with some opposite-sex ones) is patently absurd to those of use who have experience in this. Mine, unfortunately, isn't first-hand, but I'm fortunate to know quite a few couples like these:

http://www.equalitymaryland.org/news_2007/new...

http://www.equalitymaryland.org/news_2006/new...

If you knew people like this, you would know how wrong you are.

Dave wrote:

Devon .... quite the contrary. I am very happy .... you don't see or hear me whining about not being able to marry another man. My girl friend suits me just fine. I have a great job, and probably unlike you make an extremely high salary. Drive a new car, live in a $500,000.00 home. Have a great family and friends. In perfect health, and I can go on and on. The only thing I don't have ..... the luxury of having the Government provide everything to me. Sounds like you fit that description. And, yes I do believe in the majority rule, idiot ..... without it simpleton there would be chaos with everyone doing what they want. Be careful walking the street in Cinc. Ohio. But, I guess you really are living in the lovely Baltimore City.

Those that feel the need to brag are rarely telling the whole truth. Besides your logic leaves a lot to be desired which leads me even further to the point of taking you as just another blowhard with nothing to say of any substance.

Have a good day.

PDupont wrote:

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this country is not based on the Bible but on the Constitution..

Religious Affiliation of U.S. Founding Fathers
Episcopalian/Anglican 88 54.7%
Presbyterian 30 18.6%
Congregationalist 27 16.8%
Quaker 7 4.3%
Dutch Reformed/German Reformed 6 3.7%
Lutheran 5 3.1%
Catholic 3 1.9%
Huguenot 3 1.9%
Unitarian 3 1.9%
Methodist 2 1.2%
Calvinist 1 0.6%
TOTAL 204

You can read the Federalist papers and make up your own mind as to the religious underpinnings of the constitution. However, I will point out that it was not written with the intent for a separation of church and state. It was written with the intent of being non-denominational and to not allow for a Government mandated religion.

The life you live is a progression of choices that you make as an individual. The way you were born was a result of your parents choices. I don't believe someone is born gay and I don't believe someone is born believing in God. They are choices that you make on your own.

Yo...Todd...People ARE BORN GAY. What you believe runs counter to God's will. He made gay people in every thing...haven't you been to the dog park lately? or the zoo!?

Yo, Onbe Human Family....The God I serve, which is God Almighty, loathes, hates, abhores the sin called homosexuality. It is in the Bible, the Old Testament & the New Testament, it is an abomination, he destroyed two whole cities because of it (Sodom & Gemorah). Homosexuality is LEARNED, and is a CHOICE, made by someone. God DOES NOT make homosexuals, people make homosexuals. Again, it is a choice!!! We are told by God in his word to "Love your neighbor, as I have loved you". Which we Christians do. It is the SIN that God hates, it is the SIN that Christians hate, not the person. Repent from your sins now, and accept Jesus as your LOrd and saviour, and your sins shall be cast as far as the east is from the west. God Bless.

Pastor Bob

Yo, Bob K...The G-d you serve destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah for the sin of inhospitality. Also, clearly, you wouldn't know what causes homosexuality, since I'd bet my house you're not gay and therefore have no idea how gay people feel in their hearts. If you know what causes homosexuality, maybe you're being gypped out of a Nobel prize in medicine, since no one else knows what causes it. Also, in G-d's words, and Jesus' words, since you identify yourself as a Christian, is not ONE word about lesbians.

If you think it's such a sin, then don't do it. You can't have it both ways. If marriage is a sacrament (which it's not, it's been a property right throughout history), then keep the state out of it, and if it's a civil right, don't discriminate. It really is that simple.

As I have done many times on boards discussing this topic, I recommend a lucid, easy-to-read book on this topic by Fr. Daniel Helminiak, Ph.D.(He actually has two Ph.D's, one in Bible and one in clinical psychology.) It's called "What the Bible Really Says About Homosexuality." Fr. Helminiak can read both testaments in the original and analyzes in painstaking detail the real meaning of the verses gay-haters love to cherry-pick, set in the context of their times, again which cherry-picking gay-haters love to do. Now, whom am I gonna believe--someone with two Ph.Ds, or YOU?

Did you hear about the new Internet site visted by more gays than ever before? Your Tube

Pastor Bob,
Hope the Joke isn't on you!
Good Luck buddy...I'll take my chances with God made me this way, Gay and a nice guy.

For all we know God intended people to be gay and Heterosexuality is the choice!

Let me know what he says when you get there!

There seem to be a few Bible-thumpers here who are saying that "There should be a law against gay marriages because God hates homosexuals."

This strikes me as odd, especially because while the Bible does say "Lying with man is an abomination," it also says a few other things,(also from the same section I might add):

"They (shellfish) shall be an abomination to you; you shall not eat their flesh, but you shall regard their carcasses as an abomination." (Leviticus 11:11)(Don't eat shellfish)

"...and the swine, though it divides the hoof, having cloven hooves, yet does not chew the cud, is unclean to you." (Leviticus 11:7)(Don't eat pigs)

"Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard." (Leviticus 19:27)(No shaving/haircuts either)

By these verses, it would seem to me that you should be focusing more on laws preventing haircuts, shaving, eating pigs, and eating shellfish, as those are far more rampant than the 10% of the population doing the horizontal slide with the same sex.

So tell us, oh Bible-thumpers, why you don't you pursue these other biblical commands with as 'religious' a fanaticism?