Amen no kidding.. it was religion that made the institution of marriage what it is... And in ancient cultures, oftentimes same-sex couples were given the same rights and privledges as opposite-sex couples, because it was felt that having a loving relationship was a thing to revere.

Traditional values are not concrete concepts. They constantly evolve, albeit at a fairly slow rate. Every maturing generation tends to believe that things were somehow better and more righteous when they were young, but that's not reality - things were just different. Also, outside of the fact that a gay couple is, well, gay, how is their marriage harmful to what some might consider to be traditional values? They are people who were raised in communities that shared the same values as everyone else, so they share those values. They aren't aliens, they just happen to be attracted to the same sex.

In the other places you speak of marriage is worlds different than what we have in the "civilized" world, and their rituals are not based on politics, they are spiritual ceremonies that have deep meaning to these people, not just a piece of paper or a way to control assets or whatever. If marriage in north america had the same morals and values as they do in the less "civilized" cultures, there would be no need for pre-nuptual agreements. Tell me those on their own are not a sign that marriage is about finances.

So true. Even animals in nature have homosexual relationships, and some have lifetime pairings with same-sex mates. We are animals, and as much as we like to feel that we are above them, we are governed by the same instincts that cause them to engage in a very natural (albiet different from the "norm") behavior.

not a low opinion of single parents. i mean that its an idea that should be frowned upon. of course circumstances come up , people get divorced, spouses die etc. i'm saying that as a society, people should be looking at a nuclear family as the model to be... not be viewed as simply one totally acceptable option.

no comment

instinct does not cause abnormal behavior. if that was true, then a serial killer would simply be acting on instinct.

how do you deduce that an abnormal behavior is "natural" when by the very fact that its admittedly abnormal, and is clearly an exception to the rule ... which logic would then dictate that its "unnatural".

your idea of "values" being fluid ignores the fact that accepted values can also be harmful on the whole. for example, a single parent family is more likely to produce a child that will end up in prison. saying "its totally ok to be a single mom... you go girl and don't let anyone tell you that you can't do it", might be acceptable, but its a behavior that also comes with negative consequences that affect society as a whole.

Just become a behavior is less common doesn't mean it's unnatural. It's through these kind of things happening that adaptation occurs. Same-sex relationships between animals were around LONG before the institution of marriage. It's a little odd to think that something that's been around before recorded history gets trumped by something that came essentially recently and is entirely a construct of religion and politics?

There's as many fucked up nuclear families as there are single-parent ones. A family is what you make it, and people don't always get to choose. Who made you god or the president or whatever to make you feel that your ideals should be the ones everyone lives by? We all do the best we can to live life every day, we roll with the punches and do what we must. Nobody's ideals for society can fit every situation, and it's narrow-minded and silly to believe that a one-solution-fits-all ideal is really something possible, viable, or even logical.

you are the one defining "natural" and "unnatural" to suit an argument.

two headed sheep were around before marriage as well. that doesn't mean that society should be doing everything possible to assist two headed sheep in increasing their survival rates when ultimately, two headed sheep pass along negative genetic traits which have a long term negative effect on the survival rates of sheep.

of course there are always exceptions to any rule. that doesn't mean that its a healthy thing for society as a whole to start making the exceptions the rule.

i personally have no stake in the argument and could care less if gay people get married or if gay marriage is outlawed. i am simply voicing my opinion and suggest that from an anthropological standpoint, there is a greater benefit to a society in strengthening and reinforcing the concept of a strong nuclear family than not.

life is not fair. the constitution or laws of man cannot make life fair. sometimes you get selected by nature to be the one who has to take one for the team (and sometimes from the top or bottom).

So as long as they have a penis and a vagina for parents, which they can call "mom and dad", what they do for a living does not have anything to do with their Values?

are you serious? :error

i didn't anything like that.

seriously, tighten your helmet strap and up your medication.

i oppose gay marriage with the same ferocity that i oppose straight marriage.

I wonder how many of the no votes came from gay people.

I do...why not?

I don't mind fags and if they want to marry, I think they should have the freedom to do so.

Married people used to pay a tax penalty in the united states until it was changed. Kinda like how the pledge of allegience never had "under god" in the original.
Just tidbits, cuz I got nothin.

http://www.tshirthell.com/images/con...s/a286_008.jpg
Hotlink: http://www.tshirthell.com/images/con...s/a286_008.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/223/5...76a5ad67b3.jpg

seems to give a lot of pleasure

to have that, you must pay

:1orglaugh

I did mine and my boyfriend's taxes individually this year. Then, out of curiosity, I calculated what our returns would be if we were married. Surprise! We would have gotten far less money back as a married couple than we did as single.

Marriage blows.

You get money BACK? Omg.

I find no reasons to interfere in the decision of two people that want to get married, no matter what they are. If they want to spend the rest of their lives together, who I am to say "no, that´s no good". ?

i support gay marriage..

i really don't care - if they want to marry they have my blessing

i would even grant them the same rights regarding taxes, adoption etc. as heterosexual couples.

but: i would also grant the same rigths to couples who do not want to get legally married but live together for 10 or 20 years

why not equality

Between 2 kids and a mortgage, yup. But I don't own a business anymore so they're taking money out of my paycheck all year long.

only if the "bride" is a virgin :1orglaugh

I can't believe that anyone on this thread is treating gay marriage as a polar opposite to "supporting traditional family values". Do you know what would support traditional family values, forcing teenagers onto birth control so they don't get knocked up before they're old enough to drink and end up as a single parent or in a dysfunctional marriage. What the hell do gay people have to do with whether or not straight people form good marriages. How do you erode the traditional nuclear family by letting gay people emulate it? That would appear to reinforce the traditional nuclear family. You definitely don't want to encourage gay people to marry the opposite gender, that's like creating families that are doomed to fail.
I am an American. "Pursuit of happiness" is in the rules somewhere. Gay marriage is just consistent with American values.

why not?

it's not your business, so why would you meddle into it?

and this thread does not sound like one from an adult board. very disappointed hearing a bunch of nerds commenting like 12 year old kids.

What you mean by "support"? :)

plenty of pro gay on here woo hoo oh snap you go girl! switch it hahahaha

Gay marriage is ok i guess (freedom of choice) .. gay couple to have a kid is big NO. I think that they go to far with their right about convincing us gay couple to adopt a kid

Why is it a big no?

who gives a shit what they do, it's their life

We had this same debate decades ago with the same type of issue, it was called interracial marriage.

do you realize how many shitty heterosexual people with kids are out there?

Ghey :love-boob

No. No. No. :)