Gay Marriage Debate - San Jose, CA

it's right

Being Gay is not a choice, it is a fact of life. Benefits linked to marriage should not be denied to those who choose to make the commitment and take on the responsibilities of a marriage.

no legitimate reason not to

Marriage is defined as the civil union of one man and one woman. Any kind of union other than that of one man and one woman is not a marriage.
It would be defined as a legal civil union.
In order to allow gay marriage, the entire definition of marriage would have to be changed to dismiss "other" requests for marriage, i.e.(two women one man),(a man and woman and horse),(a woman and 3 men),(a cat and a man) etc.
Changing the long history and definition of marriage is not in the best interests of society.

mellow wrote:

Being Gay is not a choice, it is a fact of life. Benefits linked to marriage should not be denied to those who choose to make the commitment and take on the responsibilities of a marriage.

You are wrong. Being gay is a choice. You chose to be that way, so don't even go there. You may not remember when you made that choice, but in fact that is what you did.

Don't you come and backfire on me because I will nail you to the wall on this issue. I know alot of gay people, and they have admitted to making this their choice of life. I am an old bitch and know too much. So be caeful.

Peanuts wrote:

<quoted text>
You are wrong. Being gay is a choice. You chose to be that way, so don't even go there. You may not remember when you made that choice, but in fact that is what you did.
Don't you come and backfire on me because I will nail you to the wall on this issue. I know alot of gay people, and they have admitted to making this their choice of life. I am an old bitch and know too much. So be caeful.

why would you think I am gay? LOL, sorry to disappoint you. I am not, I am a heterosexual female.

Being gay is no more a choice than being heterosexual. The only choice involved is deciding to live openly gay, or hide your sexuality from those around you in order to 'fit in'. You must be a very gullible old bitch. Want to bet they are laughing about that behind your oh so bigoted and self righteous back?

Thanks for the laugh.

Equal rights for all including gay people.

Not wrote:

Changing the long history and definition of marriage is not in the best interests of society.

Why?

simple - equal rights:

It about equal protection under the law.

Honestly, why not.

the institute of marriage is very fragile - future children will suffer from a real identity- filling out any form - mothers name -father name other fathers name ?
I think the gay community is asking enough just to be tolerated with dangerous behaviors let alone changing the culture of a family.

Peanuts wrote:

<quoted text>
You are wrong. Being gay is a choice. You chose to be that way, so don't even go there. You may not remember when you made that choice, but in fact that is what you did.
Don't you come and backfire on me because I will nail you to the wall on this issue. I know alot of gay people, and they have admitted to making this their choice of life. I am an old bitch and know too much. So be caeful.

I was born gay, never made a choice. You either are gay or you're not.

Geof wrote:

the institute of marriage is very fragile - future children will suffer from a real identity- filling out any form - mothers name -father name other fathers name ?
I think the gay community is asking enough just to be tolerated with dangerous behaviors let alone changing the culture of a family.

Wrong.

Facts About Children Raised by Gay and Lesbian Parents

*

In 1990, an estimated 6 to 14 million children in the United States had at least one gay or lesbian parent (Baker v. State, 1999).
*

Numerous well-respected authorities agree that children of same-sex parents are as healthy, happy and well-adjusted as peers with heterosexual parents:
o The American Psychological Association, representing more than 155,000 psychologists, states that children of gay and lesbian parents are at no disadvantage psychologically or socially compared to children of heterosexual parents.
o The American Academy of Pediatrics, the nation’s leading pediatric authority with 57,000 members, says that children who grow up with gay and/or lesbian parents fare as well in emotional, cognitive, social and sexual functioning as children with straight parents.
o The National Association of Social Workers, with nearly 150,000 members, agrees that research on gay and lesbian parenting shows a total absence of pathological findings in their children.
o “Not a single study has found children of gay or lesbian parents to be disadvantaged in any significant respect relative to children of heterosexual parents. Indeed, the evidence to date suggests that home environments provided by gay and lesbian parents are as likely as those provided by heterosexual parents to support and enable children’s psychosocial growth.”-- Charlotte J. Patterson, researcher at the University of Virginia, 2004
*

Children of gay and lesbian parents experience no significant differences in quality of peer relationships, nor do they experience more struggles with self-esteem.
o Susan Golombok et al., Children in Lesbian and Single-Parent Households: Psychosexual and Psychiatric Appraisal, 1983.
o Fiona Tasker and Susan Golombok, Growing up in a Lesbian Family, 1997.
o Sharon L. Huggins, A Comparative Study of Self Esteem of Adolescent Children of Divorced Lesbian Mothers and Divorced Heterosexual Mothers, 1989.
o Mary E. Hotvedt and Jane B. Mandel, Children of Lesbian Mothers, 1982.

Geof wrote:

the institute of marriage is very fragile - future children will suffer from a real identity- filling out any form - mothers name -father name other fathers name ?
I think the gay community is asking enough just to be tolerated with dangerous behaviors let alone changing the culture of a family.

Facts About Gay Parenting

*

Research shows that gays and lesbians are just as fit to parent as heterosexuals, possessing the same abilities to nurture and provide stable homes:
o David K. Flaks et al., Lesbians Choosing Motherhood: A Comparative Study of Lesbian and Homosexual Parents and Their Children, 1995.
o Charlotte J. Patterson and Raymond W. Chan, Gay Fathers and Their Children, 1996.
o Judith Stacey and Timothy Biblarz, Does the Sexual Orientation of Parents Matter?, 2001.
*

Gay and lesbian couples enjoy the same degree of relationship health and satisfaction, and stay together long-term at the same rates, as opposite-sex couples:
o Charlotte J. Patterson, Family Relationships of Lesbians and Gay Men, 2000.
o Philip Blumstein and Pepper Schwartz, American Couples, 1983.
o L.A. Peplau and Susan D. Cochran, A Relationship Perspective on Homosexuality, 1990.
o Lawrence A. Kurdek, Lesbian and Gay Couples, in “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Identities Over the Lifespan: Psychological Perspectives,” 1995; Relationship Stability and Relationship Satisfaction in Cohabitating Gay and Lesbian Couples: A Prospective Longitudinal Test of the Contextual and Interdependence Models, 1992; and Relationship Quality of Partners in Heterosexual Married, Heterosexual Cohabitating, and Gay and Lesbian Relationships, 1986.

Please note: Studies cited above represent only a sampling of gay and lesbian parenting research.

The person you love cannot be dictated by old Jewish men writing 5,000 yrs ago.
Marriage in the sense that we are talking about is just a business contract filed with the State. Ijn that sense any people of adult age and consenting should be able to get married. Gay or straight

So because Alfred loved little boys 2 months old he should be allowed to marry them? I mean your own words claim that the person you love can not be dictated by old Jewish men writing 5000 years ago.

By the way, old Jewish men didn't write scripture. God did.

Gay or straight is ot the issue. Heterosexuals claim that gay marriages threatens the sanctity of marriage. The only threat to heterosexual marriage is what the two people bring to it. Family vilence, sexual abuse, adultary, lying, emotional and verbal abuse, abandonment. These are the things that threaten the sanctity of marriage, no what someone else in doing in their home.

The credibility of my marriage, the validity of my marriage in no way impacts on someone else's marriage.

Furthermore, beyond the issues of age, compentency and consent, who people marry should not be a political issues.

The vast majority of who are against gay marriage are spending absolutely no time feed the hungry, housing the homeless, helping to rescue those in need from natural disasters. These people are the most part are doing nothing to increase in a world
where 3/4 of the people can't read.

Those who spend so much energy working against gay marriage, what are they doing to improve the status of women around the world so that they will no longer be raped, killed for "honor" or have their noses and ears cut off by the Taliban.
There are way too many life threatening issues going on in the world to spend money and time trying to tell people who and who cannot be married.

The only reason I am spending this time here is because people against gay marriage seem to be winning the fight here in CA. And it should be noted that the judge Vaughn Walker who struck down gay marriage by ruling Prop 8 to be constitutional, he himself is gay. Ain't that a bitch. He obviously suffers from self hatred.

The judge is gay!!! That just tells you how warped this whole debate is.

It's a basic civil right that should be universal. If we deny gays the right to marry, then we should also deny heterosexuals that same right. fair is fair. Besides, we have already given them the right to marry. Prop 8 was wholly unconstitutional, which is why it is now in the appeals court and I will be shocked if the latest decision gets overturned. I have several friends who were raised by homosexual parents and they turned out just fine(better, inf act, than many of the people I know who were raised by a hetero couple).