dubya says blah blah blah.
We must support the institution of marriage and help parents build stronger families. And we must continue our work to create a compassionate, welcoming society, where all people are treated with dignity and respect.
eh?
Why does "defending marriage" and "defending the family" require opposing same-sex unions? How does a homosexual union do any harm to someone else's heterosexual marriage?
It may come as a surprise to many people, but homosexual unions often have a more direct impact on heterosexual marriages than one would think. For example, the Boston Globe reported June 29, 2003, that "nearly 40 percent" of the 5,700 homosexual couples who have entered into "civil unions" in Vermont "have had a previous heterosexual marriage."
Of course, it could be argued that many of those marriages may have ended long before a spouse found their current homosexual partner. And some may assume that no opposite-sex spouse would want to remain married to someone with same-sex attractions. Nevertheless, the popular myth that a homosexual orientation is fixed at birth and unchangeable may have blinded us to the fact that many supposed "homosexuals" have, in fact, had perfectly functional heterosexual marriages. And as Globe columnist Jeff Jacoby points out, "In another time or another state, some of those marriages might have worked out. The old stigmas, the universal standards that were so important to family stability, might have given them a fighting chance. Without them, they were left exposed and vulnerable."
ok. never mind that your Boston Globe survey is probably crap like most surveys are anyway, but let's use your numbers. 'nearly 40 percent' - what about the other 'nearly 60 percent'? and 60 percent is the majority anyway, buddy. plenty of people leave their marriages to run off with someone of the opposite sex, too, so your argument is just stupid.
Don't homosexuals need marriage rights so that they can get Social Security survivor benefits when a partner dies?
It is ironic that activists are now seeking Social Security survivor benefits for homosexual partners, since Congress originally intended them as a way of supporting a very traditional family structure--one in which the husband worked to provide the family's cash income while the wife stayed home to keep house and raise the children. Social Security survivor benefits were designed to recognize the non-monetary contribution made to a family by the homemaking and child-rearing activities of a wife and mother, and to ensure that a woman and her children would not become destitute if the husband and father were to die.
The Supreme Court ruled in the 1970s that such benefits must be gender-neutral. However, they still are largely based on the premise of a division of roles within a couple between a breadwinner who works to raise money and a homemaker who stays home to raise children.
Very few homosexual couples organize their lives along the lines of such a "traditional" division of labor and roles. They are far more likely to consist of two earners, each of whom can be supported in old age by their own personal Social Security pension.
how many heterosexual households have two earners? quite a few, i would imagine. so shouldn't they also be cut off, following your logic?
oh i can't even read any more of this nonsense. i just don't get it. if they're having such a cow about defining the word 'marriage' then fine - do it, but i don't see why two people that want to commit to each other should be denied the ability to that, legally. they argue that if the gays can marry, then the polygamists, etc. will all want that. and maybe they will. i don't see how that's going to destroy my life, either. set some limits. there are already limits set on marriage. it's like anything else. however, i do not share their religious beliefs, so we'll never agree there. i don't believe that children are better off in a heterosexual family unit than a homosexual one. there's too many variables. if they're both great family units and everyone is loving and supportive and all that good stuff, i don't really see a difference. a child raised by two women or two men is still going to encounter people of the opposite sex. what about 'traditional' families where one spouse dies? they continue to function. most of my friends grew up in 'traditional' families, but they were hardly good environments (mine included). that doesn't mean that all heterosexual families are bad, either. sheesh, i'm just rambling now. i enjoy debate, but this felt more like it was being crammed down my throat, so i just got all pissy. it's late and i should go to bed.