[quote name="jaxhawksfan"]I have refrained from offering my opinion in this thread, but since some of you are genuinely curious I'll offer this up.......
The DEFINITION of marriage is a joining of one man and one woman. When you start tinkering with that definition you are opening the door to more future changes of the definition and that could lead to man marries dog, woman marries 3 women, man marries horse or any other ridiculous sceniario.
There are only two facets to marriage: legal and religious. We won't discuss religious here because it doesn't fit the topic. Legally, gay couples already have the same rights as anyone else. You want to make "power of attorney" decisions for your partner, then draw up a living will or sign power of attorney. Want to include them on your insurance? There are at least 4 major insurance carriers in EVERY SINGLE ONE of our 50 states that will cover a domestic partner. Want to pay the marriage tax? I would only ask why.
The issue gets skewed in the media like all others. You always hear about the CHAMPION case of the hospital in Miami that didn't allow the gay partner to make decisions or see the other person as they died. The person had a legal right (to my understanding) because they had power of attorney to make medical decisions. A couple people at the hospital acted inappropriately in the situation. The hospital was sued. If it hasn't been to court yet, the hospital will lose. End of that story.
As many of you in the health industry know, it doesn't make a damn bit of difference if you are family or not, the hospital can deny you visitation for many reasons. Being "married" whether gay or straight doesn't change that. I have first hand experience with my father being kicked out of the room on a couple different occasions at the hospital.
There is my explanation. I have many gay friends and I think gay people should be allowed to love and express love to whoever they choose. Nobody can stop a person from loving another person if that is what they choose to do. Have a ceremony, invite your friends to join in your love for each other. Give and receive gifts, move in together. Buy a home together and live happily ever after. Have a joint bank account. Buy pets. Do all those things that other married couples do. Put whatever label you want on it but it isn't a legal "marriage". Call it a legal civil union, legal partnership, legal cooperation, etc.
In the end, it seems to me that they only want to change the definition of marriage and that I am against.[/quote]
There's only one little ticker I have about this... You can still call it something else, anything else, but it still is this so-called "definition of marriage" as a result. In other words, "If it quacks like a duck and waddles like a duck, chances are, its still a duck."
The reason why gay people want that so-called "definition of marriage" is because it is a confirmation of everything. In other words, we won't feel like equals to straight people until that confirmation is upheld. Many, including myself, feel that we're second class citizens, even though I was born and raised in the USA.
It is because of that neglecting of said confirmation that forces everyone else to be "against" the power of attorney, including the hospitals. You see, unless they are actually "married" (call it a blt sandwich if you want, I dont care.), there will always be that intolerance and misunderstanding of said parties.
The only argument stated here is the fear of the direction of tolerance in this country.
We just want the simple things that normal married couples have... and that is the ability to have the "American Dream" like they do... and as crazy as it sounds, it also includes this "definition of marriage." I'll give it the exception to the rule, though. That ceremony will not have to be accepted by any official religion, as per the rule of seperation of Church and State. They could be recognized in a government office instead.
