Who does homosexuality hurt?

[Aliantha]

Originally Posted by Ibram

But els's point, that still hasn't been addressed (i'm not tail-posting here), is that LEGALLY, god CAN'T have anything to do with the discussion. God is not part of the government, and therefore God can not be the reason to deny two people a social contract.





Again, that's wonderful, but LEGALLY speaking, it is NOT the government's business at ALL how you feel spiritually. Yes, two people can feel that for eachother and not need marriage at all, but if they want the LEGAL rights associated with the LEGAL contract of marriage, they deserve it. Of course marriage is more than just signing forms. But to the GOVERNMENT, it shouldn't be. In a legal sense, only the legal agreement matters.

Just to try and clarify this one more time.

At this point it is illegal for gay people to marry almost everywhere in the world.

Do I agree with this? nope. Not at all.

Why do I think it's illegal? Because it is socially unacceptable at the moment, and until it becomes socially acceptable it will remain illegal.

Why is it socially unacceptable? Because society is underpinned by religious and spiritual beliefs which conflict with facts a lot of the time, but it doesn't change the fact that religion has a big say in what's acceptable and what's not in most societies.

What do I think needs to happen to change things? We as a society need to recognise the rights of the individual to express their love however they choose to do so which may or may not include marriage.

Why hasn't it happened yet? All change takes time. There have been remarkable leaps forward for the gay community over the last 20 years or so, along with many other minority groups. Maybe it's not fast enough, but things are definitely not stagnant.

Do I believe it will happen? Most assuredly yes.

[DanaC]

Originally Posted by Aliantha

Just to try and clarify this one more time.

At this point it is illegal for gay people to marry almost everywhere in the world.

Do I agree with this? nope. Not at all.

Why do I think it's illegal? Because it is socially unacceptable at the moment, and until it becomes socially acceptable it will remain illegal.

Why is it socially unacceptable? Because society is underpinned by religious and spiritual beliefs which conflict with facts a lot of the time, but it doesn't change the fact that religion has a big say in what's acceptable and what's not in most societies.

What do I think needs to happen to change things? We as a society need to recognise the rights of the individual to express their love however they choose to do so which may or may not include marriage.

Why hasn't it happened yet? All change takes time. There have been remarkable leaps forward for the gay community over the last 20 years or so, along with many other minority groups. Maybe it's not fast enough, but things are definitely not stagnant.

Do I believe it will happen? Most assuredly yes.

What an excellent post.