Proposition 8 declared unconstitutional

[PanzerJaeger]

All in all, I wish we'd get some unquestionable research as to being gay being a "nature" issue and not "nurture." This would force some re-thinking that would probably be useful.

It really doesn't matter. What matters is that it is not a conscious choice, and if you've ever known a gay person you know that is the truth.

[Beskar]

It really doesn't matter. What matters is that it is not a conscious choice, and if you've ever known a gay person you know that is the truth.

Not totally... it is more that "homosexual" feelings are natural in all of us. Deciding to follow through with our desires are our choice, having those desires exactly aren't.

You have male role-models and idols. There is 'Guy Love'. There are males in the media and other places which you can sit there and go "They look attractive". Perhaps you are fond of a male posters posts on this forum, perhaps a giggly feeling of joy when Lemur, Strike for the South, etc decide to post? Even on the basic level, loving your father is loving a man, and having strong emotions towards a male.

Having such feelings doesn't mean you want to grab the nearest pot of vasaline. It is just natural feelings that we all have.

It doesn't actually need to be directed towards members of a sex. There are pets, objections and random things. Even for those who actually have sexual behaviours in the forms of paraphillia, such as sexual attractions to objects. Does this mean that having a foot fetish means you have a sexual attraction to feet gene?

Ultimately, we all have preferences, they are shaped through our life based on experiences and emotions, and situation. Why do some people prefer chocolate to coffee, and others prefer coffee to chocolate? Why can some people not stand them at all? These are all things which shape our preferences and end up resulting in who we are. Are we Republican or Democrat based on genes? Is the strong distaste for the other because of genetic factors?


If anything, the churches strict code for male and female, and on top of that, only one male with one female, for life, is a very adnormal and unnatural system. It is far more natural to be sexually curious and interest in multiple partners, then never to have intercourse untill you courted this one person for a long period of time, till you decide to 'tie the knot'.


If you want to be really blunt and honest about this entire issue, you can simply get rid of 'Marriage' all together. All it is, is glorified social enginneering in a form of a tax cut. If you keep 'marriage' to the churches, and it is up to the church itself if two people are now marriaged before the lord, it is their choices. It doesn't have to have any relationship to the law of the land itself. For issues such as Wills and Children, you simply do what we do anyway, with birth certificates and wills, which are themselves a contract stating wishes or having responsibility of a child.



tl;dr, only thing unnatural in this thread is the act of marriage itself, and especially the legal enforcement of social enginneering, while it should be left alone to the churches themselves, if the two people before them are 'marriage before the lord' or not.



( "homosexual" in the quotes means attraction to a male member of society [or female if you are female], it doesn't mean it is a sexual one. )

[a completely inoffensive name]

I think the threshold for constitutional ammedments in California is simply too low (50% +1). Requiring a 2/3s or even a 60% would make a clearer statement about the will of the people on a given constitutional issue. Constitutions address issues of personal rights and governance -- they should not be subject to the whims of a paper-thin majority. That too can be a form of tyranny.

Marriage, for me, is more than a civil union. It is a sacrament of my faith. As such, the term holds religious and spiritual connotations as well as denoting all of the civil rights and responsibilities. Though my church opposes same-sex marriage, I have stated before in these threads that I would have little or no objection to ALL persons declaring "civil union" status via the civil authorities and letting my church handle the sacrament of matrimony as it sees fit among its own.

I doubt that will be allowed to happen, however, since it appears clear that the purpose of the same-sex marriage movement is not just to establish unions that have all the normal rights and privileges thereunto appertaining, but to specifically co-opt the term "marriage." Should the churches change it to "matrimony," the same-sex marriage movement will become the "same-sex matrimony" movement. The goal is to FORCE acceptance of their lifestyle as normal, equal, and worthy -- reserving no terms, appelations, or concepts of any kind to same-sex unions and lifestyles.

I'd like to think that, were I gay, I would be more concerned over establishing equal treatment under the law and less concerned about trying to re-section the entire culture at a pace that it never accepts. On the other hand, it's easy to see how -- already part of a relatively rare minority -- I might become particularly adamant about attempting to force such change.

All in all, I wish we'd get some unquestionable research as to being gay being a "nature" issue and not "nurture." This would force some re-thinking that would probably be useful.

Constitutionally, the Constitution of the U.S. contains provisions noting that state costitutions cannot contravene the U.S. Constitution and that states should extend full faith and credit to those decisions made by another state pursuant to its Constitution. However, the power to issue licenses (including marriage) as well as to establish constitutional provisions regarding voter age etc. are reserved to the states. There are arguments to be made from either perspective.

You are absolutely 100% correct on your first paragraph. I have nothing else to say about that.

You second paragraph though bothers me. Just because you want a particular service to not be serviced to a particular group, no matter what significance such service has to you doesn't mean it is allowed. Treat marriage as we do with businesses and other services, if it's something you can't help, don't discriminate if it is, then change your attitude or GTFO. Homosexuality is not something you can change any more then skin color. Also by having their own "separate but equal" civil union while you have your marriage, you are repeating history all over again.

The purpose of the same-sex marriage movement has been to be treated the same as heterosexuals in America, including having access to the same services under the same name. Again, having "hetero marriages" and "homo civil unions" is not different then "white drinking fountains" and "black garden hoses" you can say that both the fountain and garden hose provide the same water but you can't say that this is how a society based upon equality and unlimited opportunity is structured.

Your third paragraph puzzles me. The point of repealing Prop 8 is to establish equal treatment under the law, that was the main point brought by the judge, that the proposition violated the "Equal Protection" clause. They are not attempting to force society accept them, they are forcing government to accept them under the law as equals and the bigots who think differently are attempting to force the government to not accept them.

Gay is a nature thing, not a nurture thing. I know this, every gay knows this.

The power/ability to reject marriage licenses from other states is a violation of the Full Faith Clause and it would certainly be struck down by the Supreme Court or any Federal judge if it were ever challenged. The Constitution makes no clause giving marriage licenses an exception to the rule.

It really doesn't matter. What matters is that it is not a conscious choice, and if you've ever known a gay person you know that is the truth.

PJ is absolutely right here. Wait, did I just say that?