FMA - are you against or for it?

[twiggers]

tr: I completely agree with your statement regarding the separation of state and church. Religion does not belong in politics...and I think that means ANY religion (not just Catholicism or Christianity).
I understand he has his religion and is devoutly religious, but it should not be clouding political decisions.
It is perfectly OK to say that something is immoral, but you don't need to bring religion into it! Immorality can be separated from religion.

 

[mewlicious]

I'm seriously against it.
The thing I don't understand is why doesn't the glbt population look at it from an economic standpoint. The cost of marriage licenses alone could stimulate city growth.

While all the GWB bashing has gone on (and I'm not a fan), what gets me is how he likes to pawn this and other gay laws off as a states rights issue. I'm sick of any controversial issue becoming one of a states problem instead of solving issues as a nation, this only polarizes the 'red' and 'blue' states moreso and is an afront to the constant times federal politicians speak about our nation united.

 

[mewlicious]

I think a really good compromise to all this would be to legalize civil partnerships for ALL couples, gay or straight. There are many hetero couples who are cohabitating and have no legal rights either. Many don't like the idea of traditional marriage. In France they have what is called a civil marriage pact which is a contract that can be taken out by two people and dissolved by those two people at any time.

This is the case in many US states, although only for het couples. You can state this as a reason to get benifits from your spouse and file taxes jointly etc... same marriage benifits.

I'm a very non-traditional type of gal and this is how I am married.

However, since many het couples have this ability it has pissed off a bit of the glbt population saying the het cohabit couples have been riding on the backs of the glbt marriage campaign.

There was a story on NPR a few months ago about it if you want to check their archives, they might have an audio feed still of it about the problems and possibilities of glbt cohabitation laws.

 

[layla]

This pretty much sums it up.

"The **********s are worried about the flag, gay marriage and the terrible burden of the estate tax on the rich. The rest of us are obviously unnecessarily worried about war, peace, the economy, the environment and civilization." Molly Ivins 6-6-2006

 

[abandonedimages]

I am against it. Like Andreax716 said, Love is love. Have politicians forgotten this or do they just not care? :/

I dont know, I'm not into politics and dont know all the facts and figures. We talked about this issue a little bit in SOC202, and it seemed as if the government always pushes the fact that marriage as an institution is a union between man and woman for the purpose of reproduction (thereby adding more members to our society), and gay couples cannot reproduce. What about love? Anyways, not all heterosexual couples reproduce.

Faux News.

lol Good one Roo.

The only down side to gay marriage IMO is that it will spawn a gay divorce industry.

So true. Gay couple domestic violence is a lot more common than most people think and will most likely ultimately lead to divorce :[ If given the same legal rights as heterosexual couples this is a very real possibility.

 

[chinchillamoose]

I'm seriously against it.
The thing I don't understand is why doesn't the glbt population look at it from an economic standpoint. The cost of marriage licenses alone could stimulate city growth.

While all the GWB bashing has gone on (and I'm not a fan), what gets me is how he likes to pawn this and other gay laws off as a states rights issue. I'm sick of any controversial issue becoming one of a states problem instead of solving issues as a nation, this only polarizes the 'red' and 'blue' states moreso and is an afront to the constant times federal politicians speak about our nation united.

GWB isn't treating it as a states rights issue, hence it's the Federal Marriage Amendment in the US Constitution. The politicians who don't want to take a definitive stand for or against this amendment say it's an issue that needs to be resolved on the state level as most laws regarding marriage are state laws.

It's absolutely unconscionable for the administration to want to "protect" an abstract concept of marriage, instead of wanting to protect the rights and freedoms of taxpaying citizens. And for politicians to use gay marriage as a wedge issue to bring people to the polls is disgusting, but since it worked in the 2004 election I expect this to happen every election year. It's political malpractice, if you ask me, and the politicians manipulating the issue for their political gain are in breach of their oath of service.

 

[jag]

I feel everyone should have equal rights no matter who they choose to love. It's 2 human beings, simple as that

I could not agree more!!!!

 

[jimmyneyugn]

hi everyone again. i haven't posted since the original post.. and wow there have been an immense number of responses.

i just want to say a couple things.

firstly, a civil union IS an option and currently is available in most blue states. however, it does not give the same "protection" or rights or anything.. it just says, "okay mr. and mr. so-and-so are together." nothing more. they STILL can't visit their SO if they're dying in the hospital, they STILL can't get any other social security rights if their SO dies, they STILL can't get really anything that ACTUAL married by law participants get.

anyone can get a civil union, but only heterosexual couples can get married. if there is such a battle for marriage protection and honing in on "traditional family values"... then why doesn't the FMA just take out marriage FOR EVERYONE, and make it standardized for everyone to get a civil union? if a couple has been married for 65 years, and suddenly is forced to switch over to a "civil union", that isn't a marriage by law, that would never go well, and neither would a gay couple that has been together for 65 years as well.. am i making sense?

if gay marriage was indeed allowed, would polygamy and the rest of the stuff like marrying dogs and pets be allowed too? Who said that? this is a fight and battle for two humans to marry each other.... i dont see people ranting and raving over why they can't marry their horse! and the only people that bring up that kind of nonsense are people that are scared that allowing gay marriage is like, "opening a can of worms". "who knows what else will be legal if gay marriage can be legal!" is usually the response.

wanna know some weird "laws" that shouldn't even be laws to begin with? for instance.. why is pumping your own gas in new jersey and other states -- illegal? are people not allowed to be independent? are people going to "steal" the gas?? don't you have to pay the attendant or station first to get gas? how do you know that the "full service attendent" wont' fck up or scratch your car? then who's to blame? that is one of the DUMBEST laws i've ever seen.

anyways... i gotta go back to work now.

 

[ilzabet]

wanna know some weird "laws" that shouldn't even be laws to begin with? for instance.. why is pumping your own gas in new jersey and other states -- illegal? are people not allowed to be independent? are people going to "steal" the gas?? don't you have to pay the attendant or station first to get gas? how do you know that the "full service attendent" wont' fck up or scratch your car? then who's to blame? that is one of the DUMBEST laws i've ever seen.

totally off topic but since you brought it up:

as a person from oregon where this law is in effect i actually love it. not getting out of my car in the pouring rain is wonderful and i cannot STAND smelly yucky gasoline. i appreciate that someone else does it for me. it also creates jobs that otherwise wouldn't exist in a state that already has one of the higher unemployment rates in the nation. every couple of years a bill gets drafted trying to change it and people go into HUGE letter writing mode over it.

the only drawback i've found is that when i go out of state i don't know how to pump my own gas...the attendants aren't allowed to even come out and show me how and the full service option is very very rare...i try not to drive out of state by myself for that reason.

oh, and i'm MUCH more likely to f*up my car trying to pump my own gas than the person who does it hundreds of times a day.

 

[jillybean307]

totally off topic but since you brought it up:

as a person from oregon where this law is in effect i actually love it. not getting out of my car in the pouring rain is wonderful and i cannot STAND smelly yucky gasoline. i appreciate that someone else does it for me. it also creates jobs that otherwise wouldn't exist in a state that already has one of the higher unemployment rates in the nation. every couple of years a bill gets drafted trying to change it and people go into HUGE letter writing mode over it.

the only drawback i've found is that when i go out of state i don't know how to pump my own gas...the attendants aren't allowed to even come out and show me how and the full service option is very very rare...i try not to drive out of state by myself for that reason.

oh, and i'm MUCH more likely to f*up my car trying to pump my own gas than the person who does it hundreds of times a day.

LOL, I don't care what anyone else says, NJ is the best state for that reason alone. I hate pumping my own gas!!

 

[northernbelle33]

Against.

I definitely think that same-sex couples should have the right to marry .

 

[whatzerface]

I feel everyone should have equal rights no matter who they choose to love. It's 2 human beings, simple as that

Exactly! I really think GWB has bigger things to worry about than gay marriage. I don't mean that it's not an important issue, I just mean that he should stop being so stubborn about something that could be delt with fairly easily if he chose to do so and maybe focus on the mess in Iraq and all that other stuff. I hope that makes sense.

 

[Kaligirl]

Simple and to the point I agree, and I am also against it.

Same here, GWB should focus on something else...like catching Bin Ladin

 

[layla]

Same here, GWB should focus on something else...like catching Bin Ladin

The FMA issue is being brought to the forefront now, because there is an election this November. It's very calculating on Rove and Company's part to bring this emotionally charged issue to the American people as this proved successful in the last Presidential election 2004 with the Gay Marriage and Swift Boat Veterans issues.

 

[SesilySummerhayes]

I am straight but why on earth should there be people in this world using "their" opinion on what they deem right or wrong. I respect gays, lesbians. Their life, their choice. Not my right to say they can't marry.Can't we all just get along?!