But isn't it against the free will of homosexuals that they are not allowed to marry? As a heterosexual, you appreciate the fact that you're given the right to both marry and divorce, if need be, correct? Isn't it nice to have that choice.

"For liberty and justice for all."

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"Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Hockey Night in Buffalo

its 2010. time to push forward and progress. gay? straight? its all the same now. they should have the same rights to marry as any of us heterosexuals.

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I disagree that social issues are minor.

I further disagree that the topic of gay marriage is unimportant. It may be so to most of you because it's something that isn't part of your life and doesn't really affect you, but you can bet it's important to those that are gay, and they make up a sizable percentage of this country.

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Proud LGBTQQ Individual

Elton John said it very well. Most people that are against gay marriage are against the meaning of a marriage being changed for all, just to appease a few. I am all for a gay couple being committed and happy and all that...my beef with it all is this...gay people spend so much time in their lives distancing themselves from the 'norm', why do they insist on taking something from the norm and changing it to fit their needs? Why can't it be called something different?

Marriage is, really, a religious thing. Why not take what the Justice of the Peace does and call it something different, leaving the whole marriage thing alone? Same sex or opposite sex, if you get married by the JP, you have a partner...get married in a church and its a husband or wife.

Just a thought...this way, if a same sex couple wants to get married, its the church's decision, not the state, and we can all move on to more important things...like legalizing marijuana...or not...LOL

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Its NNYFAN, but you can just call me Kris.

Since when do gay persons spend all their time in their lives distancing themselves from the norm?

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mechaphil

As a side note...or two...

I am, actually, wholeheartedly for a gay couple being happy and content. If gay marriage were legalized, it really wouldn't bother me all that much. I am more agitated with the whole abuse of the word marriage and the profound use of divorce. Marriage, itself, needs to be fixed, before it can be altered further, is all.

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Its NNYFAN, but you can just call me Kris.

What the fuck are you talking about? Spend so much time in their lives distancing themselves from the normal? You do realize that not all gays are the lisping pink shirt wearing morons you see on MTV, right? Most gays are not very different than any straight human being other than their sexual preference.

Normal is a term that really has no meaning. There is the feeling of the majority, but can that be considered "normal?" The percentage of divorces may overtake the percentage of successful marriages. Would that make divorce normal? Would it make marriage abnormal?

Is anyone normal? In general? Sexually? I don't think there is any person you can consider normal under any circumstances. Everyone has varying shades of weirdness, everyone.

You could be straight and into BDSM, have a foot fetish, latex fetish, not really be into sex at all, prefer oral sex, prefer anal sex, enjoy rope, enjoy handcuffs, have a denim fetish, prefer tall men/women, prefer large men/women, prefer A, B, C, D cups, and so on into infinity.

What makes any of these things, or any combination of these things normal?

ydnch

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Proud LGBTQQ Individual

Having lived for 4 years in the SF bay area, those folks do exist.
They're not the majority, but they're out there.

try a google image search for Folsom Street Fair when there aren't any kids around.

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Hold my beer and watch this...

Well, Alex opened the can of worms I tried not to.

One of my best friend of my entire life is a gay man who, like a ton of my straight friends, liked to get high with me and play Resident Evil on his PC or listen to industrial music. That's so abnormal.

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mechaphil

Then we all need to be poor and backwards again. Society has changed to make lifelong monogamy a tall order. What was once 20-30 years together is now 30, 40, 50, 60+ years together. People have more luxuries, are more career oriented. Life is more complex, unions less financially necessary.

There is no "fixing" marriage. It isn't even broken, people are just different. What would you honestly do to fix marriage? The leading cause of divorce is financial stresses. How do you fix that? Another big cause is sexual incompatibility. How do you fix that? Start encouraging premarital sex so people know if they're sexually compatible or not? (Hey, not a bad idea, good one CV).

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Proud LGBTQQ Individual

Anyone who thinks there is a "normal" hasn't been around much.

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Hold my beer and watch this...

Looks like an open-air BDSM convention to me. Plenty of hetero folks engage in this kind of stuff, too.

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mechaphil

That's what she said...no that ain't right...

that's what I said! And Phil. Two poster children for the so-called "abnormal."

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Proud LGBTQQ Individual

Taaaaaame, haha.

Kink.com, the best set of BDSM sites on the internet is based in San Francisco.

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Proud LGBTQQ Individual

I'm old. I remember growing up in the 70's and the kids/young adults that were gay were out to shock you and prove how different they can be and how you better just accept it or you are a jerk. I'm also a hairdresser and have worked with loads of flamboyant gay men that come flying in the salon on their toes and think its cute. I'm open minded...act, be, whatever and however you want to be. I can just picture some of these guys coming in and saying, "I'm getting married!!" and then, "We're adopting!!" and watching this whole surreal thing going on and me having to figure out who's the mom and who's the bride...it just freaks me out!!

However, in the last decade or so, I've known some gay couples that are really quite committed and cool. Maybe its because they're lesbians? They're not flamboyant gay men that always have to make sure their shoes and scarves match? I don't know... I don't like to use the word 'domesticated', because it sounds like I'm taming a wild cat, but gay couples, especially in the last decade, have become more domestic. Again, I hate to use that word because it sounds rude, but you get my drift.

My opinion has changed more towards the pro gay marriage in the last decade or so...Lord knows there are plenty of hetero couples out there that are getting married that are less compatible that we all know are going to be walking to the divorce attorney within a year. I think I'm much less up in arms over it all than I used to be and I'm closer to the fence, but still on the no side. Be happy, remain committed to one another, but please leave marriage alone. Its all so confusing.

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Its NNYFAN, but you can just call me Kris.

I agree.
But the in-your-face, I'm different, fuck you breeder, type of gay people absolutely do exist.

/and yes, I've been scorned as a "breeder" several times
//I have a whole bunch of gay friends who aren't like that at all and you'd never know they were gay.

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Hold my beer and watch this...

CV...stop swearing at me...its just an opinion. I love you and everyone else on the board.

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Its NNYFAN, but you can just call me Kris.

Oh, I know where you're coming from in regards to being referred to as "breeder" (I've known some scary militant lesbians, but gay men usually were OK with me lol), but there are just as many in-your-face, fuck you fag type of straight people in this world that sow this kind of resentment.

I guess life is just a gigantic game of give and take, and all the world's a player (Bill Shakespeare is rolling in his grave over that paraphrasing).

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mechaphil

Gay men love me. I think its my butt.

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Proud LGBTQQ Individual

they love me, too...but they just want to borrow my heels.

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Its NNYFAN, but you can just call me Kris.