Marriage should be for straight couples and there should be another term that provides mutual benefits/rights for for homosexual couples.

So all of you people who are totally against this are saying to me that if your own child came to you and told you "Mom, Dad......I'm gay/lesbian!!!" you would turn away from her/him? That is ridiculous!!!!! Gays and Lesbians arent trying to get special treatments as some of you might say....We just want to be able to celebrate our love the same way everyone else does. I mean all we want is for others to see our union the same as you see you and your spouse. And to those of you who think that gays/lesbians shouldn't have kids are also wrong. I dont see same sex couples getting divorced all the time and breaking apart their families!!!!! We work hard on creating our families. We take time, thinking, support, emotions, money, but most importantly love and trust that we have for each other into making things happen. I know plenty of young girls who get knocked up accidentally of by being stupid. We dont just pick a person, get together like whatever, like its something that can be done and undone......Ugh, it sucks that so many people are so bothered by this that they are willing to take away happiness of others away from them. So what WOULD you say to your own kid, IF they told you they were gay/lesbian? Would you abandon them...leave them....throw them out...make them feel really bad...yell at them....make them wish they never told you? And aren't you the straight parents who are allowed to have kids because you'll give them what they deserve? Lie...One big convenient lie!!! I'm just glad that my mother is the kind of person who loves and always will love me unconditionally, and for that i am thankful to her!!!!I'm also thankful to her for loving my other half, treating her like she is her daughter, and accepting our love!!!!! Thank you mom, i'll always love you!!!!

eh it has its good and bads

  It's so sad the lot of you using Christ and your pwn personal insecure judgeto demoralize and insult homosexuals. As advanced a country we are, we have a LONG way to go as far as progressive thinking is concerned. You don't have to agree with the practice but for those individuals DENYING the RIGHTS of a group of people based on their own personally drawn conclusions is wrong.

I do hope one day gay marriage will be granted everywhere. As soon as religion gets its ass out of civil liberties.

I am a lesbian. Me, I grew up in a very conservative Christian home, I went to school to be a pastor. But I always knew something wasn't "normal" about me. Let me try and explain… bare with me…it's like, all my life people have told me I should like the color blue, and I accepted that... because didn't know anything else, but when I saw purple, I knew without a doubt it was really my favorite color, I just didn’t know it existed yet. That’s how realizing I was gay came about for me, I was told I was a girl, and I would marry a boy someday, and I accepted that. But after years of not really knowing why I didn’t care to have boyfriends, I realized I didn’t really like them, I just did cause everyone else I knew did. It hit me, I was Gay, and then it was like i saw everything clearly... I realized why I loved the little mermaid so much, and that I had a crush on my best friend in kindergarten and when I was making up excuses to kiss my best friend in high school, it wasn’t just to be funny or get attention, it was because I was confused about my sexuality.

I am Christian, through and through. I know the Bible probably better then the back of my hand, I refuse to argue with people who throw verses and scripture in my face for that reason. I know it. and I know that no one that has not been in my shoes can understand what if feels like to be gay.

That being said. I am in a very committed loving relationship with a women. She will be my wife, someday. I know without a doubt she was made for me. I want to marry her. I wish others would open up their hearts and realize that what the gay community is asking for isn’t acceptance, or anyone else’s approval on the subject of homosexuality, but just the same rights as anyone else has who is in love. We are going to be here no matter if we have rights are not, that wont change.

If you want to talk about the sanctity of marriage, lets talk about the people who abuse it, those who are serially getting married and divorced. The ones who mistreat their wives/husbands and children physically and emotionally.

Let’s talk about the celebrities that our society worships and how they jump from bed to bed with a new marriage, affair and divorce every week.

Shouldn't the issue of the sanctity of marriage be about those people? Because if that’s what you are worried about, I agree.

I know that I will be an amazing wife and mother, and so will my partner, we cant wait to have kids and I am so glad I have the option of doing that. We will raise them with an open mind, the Bible in hand and with love. I know of a lot of other households that couldn't say the same.

That’s just my 2 cents. You can hate me, and judge me, you can condemn me, but I won't do that to you, because I believe that the righteous will get to Heaven, and that the Bible says to let God himself do the Judging.

We have no right to deter homosexuals from marriage, just as you cannot change YOUR sexual orientation. It's none of our business, and not up to us to criticise them.

Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone --JESUS

THIS IS OF NO IMPORTANCE. THE PITIFUL SINFUL LIBERALS SHOULD BE DESTROYED FOR TOLERATING SUCH SHAMEFUL AND DISGUSTING BEHAVIOUR. THERE ARE NO RIGHTS FOR PATHETIC HOMOSEXUALS!

UPDATE 3: Read the comments to me below from Whatupman... real class!


UPDATE 2: Look, I'm sorry if you disagree with me but, is this not the opinion network and do I not have the right to my opinion? UPDATE: Bird, I appreciate your comment but my belief is more than "aesthetics" or a study of art. It is my faith and many governments were founded based on simple and complicated truths surrounding peoples faith. We do what we do because we believe something is right or wrong and laws are created based on those beliefs. True, I do not see all that gays do but in my line of work I have seen more than I would ever want to share.

ORIGINAL COMMENT: With hesitation I'm commenting on this topic again. People say take God out of the picture; well I can't because he is God and he entered the picture himself. People say this is not a religious issue, well yes it is, and its discussed in the Word of God. People say we are not a theocracy, true but we are a democracy and as long as we are we all have the right to voice our opinions. I believe gay people have rights but not the same as married men and women (when it comes to marriage). I believe it is wrong and is a perversion and I would not want to offer marriage rights to other forms of perversion either. I also do not believe gays are born gay.

Gays and lesbian constitutional right are the same as anyone elses. They are not discriminated against. every gay can marry any woman, and any lesbian can marry any man. Nothing wrong here. But they don't want equal right, they want special rights, and that is a Pandora box we should carefully think whether we should open or not. Marriage is an institution, the basic cell of society, and has always been between a man and a woman. Children have always had moms and dads. They never had two moms, or two dads. Growing up in a same sex environment, with traumatize children who will question the reasons other children have moms and dads and they don't have them. They will feel segregated when they cannot send mom a nice Mother's Day card, or a Father's Day card. They will see children playing with their mothers and they will not be able to do so. They will see other children playing with their father and will not be able to do so. We will raise intellectually  and emotionally handicapped children which will have serious difficulties adjusting to a heterosexual world. Gays and lesbians don't care about the future of America, they only care about themselves and their agenda. Will the 10% wicked minority win the battle against 90% of normal majority? Only in America. If we sit on our hands.

UPDATED DUE TO A COMMENT.07-11-2008 Your right God does love all but hates sin; Sin is how the bible explains gay persuasions! Yes you are right about marriage being a man’s ruling, it was first bought up around Roman times! But the very word marriage describes a Male and Female; nowhere does it include male-to-male or Female-to-Female. Your views about Christianity are obviously bias and you are in agreement with "marriage." We are all entitled to our own opinion and whether you agree or not you will not persuade me to change my mind based on what you say; because most atheists use this terminology to describe why the Bible is incorrect! You either believe the Bible is true and of God or you don't. But what is stated in Gods word regarding the act of Homosexuality and Lesbianism is very vivid and clear! You cannot believe in a faith by only taking on-board what you think is right.

Firstly under Gods law it is not right or is it allowed. There are many biblical references and if you want them I suggest you look them up or ask! As for GAY marriage; Marriage is symbolically for a Male and Female, not a male and male or Female and Female. If you ask anyone gay person with their head on their shoulders, you will find that they want to be life partners with all the government legislations as a married couple has.(Male & Female.) They recognize marriage is for the opposite sex! Personally I don't care what they do as they are accountable to God alone! If I'm called to witness for God then I will very quickly share my understanding of Gods word. They are no worse than someone who chooses to not be a Christian! Do I hate Gays?  NO! Do I agree with Gay marriage?   NO. Remember I follow Gods word and this opinion is based off of what I believe as a Christian!

I don't believe this to be a true issue. I believe strongly in human rights. Although being lucky myself to not be affected directly by this law, I still support gay marriage. Many argue that people aren't born gay, but choose to be gay. I have strong doubt about that since from my personal experience, I never feel strongly towards either gender. I'm lucky enough to find a companion whom I want to spend the rest of my life with, and it happened to be a male, so lucky me. Ok, let's say even if that statement was true, and let's look at this situation here. One of my in-laws was abused by men since she was a child, can you blame her to choose to be lesbian? Just because she refuses to spend her life with a man, doesn't mean her right to be legally married should be taken away from her. Also, I know some gay people, their feelings for their partners are no difference from the feelings of straight couples. I don't see their acts to be any more disgusting than the straight couples unless, your mind choose to think of it that way. Gay couples have crazy life style? So are many straight couples. And it's God's words that gay is offensive to the nature of mankind? Well then, that's why I chose not to be Christian. I do not believe in a God, or the book rumored to be a recording of his messages, who is discriminating against those who were born different from his ideal, and claim to love us all.

Interesting to see how so many folks, right and left, gay and straight, pro and con, are buying into this ridiculous debate. My personal view of gay marriage is pretty much a "don't care," but I'm not going to take up cudgels for or against it. Given the wealth of critical issues that are facing the nation and the world, for this item to be as high as it is on this list, (given the wealth of critical issues thereon), with the most comments, shows clearly the ignorance and shallowness of the voting public.

I Posted this a year ago and feel it is still relevent

homosexuality is a mental illness. they shoyuld be in padded rooms or dead instead of protesting for MARRAGE

OK, gays and lesbians can be "joined" or have their own ceremonies, why do they have to be "Married"? Marriage has always been between man and woman, why are the gays/lesbians pushing the limit? Why can't they have their own little wedding and be satisfied - that way they would not be making people mad.

Maybe we should ask Mel Gibson what he thinks about this issue. 

UPDATE: For purposes of clarity, I assume DynaSword's fa**, means "fags" and fitman's fa****** means "fascists, is that right?

Only God's Own Party can protect our precious bodily fluids from the Gay Agender!

UPDATE:

I believe the right to decide who can marry should rest with each religious group, but the right to equal treatment under law for 'domestic partners' should not be controlled by any cult, "Christian" or otherwise.

UPDATE TOO:

For better or worse we have (to some extent) the privilege of living in a constitutional democratic republic. This means - in theory - that  the majority only rules when their desires are not overruled by the constitution. So far - except in Massachusetts - majority hatred for homosexuals has trumped the constitutional requirement for equal rights for all citizens. How much longer the majority will be allowed to trample on the rights of the minority in this case remains to be seen.

UPDATE THREESOME:

I see fa******  whinin' about what happened in California yesterday. God bless 'em.

UPDATE FORTUNATE:

This issue  is -of course - important to those who are the victims of discriminatory civil law, and apparently even more important to homophobes.

To me this shouldn't even be an issue.

Do we really need any other reason to be viewed by the rest of the world as morally bankrupt?

The way I see it, marrige has been and always will be one of the main ceremonys that take place in or within relation to a church.  As we all know, most churches including the Catholic church are against the idea of same sex marriages, therefore no way is it possible for Ellen and Rosie O'donnell to get married in/be recognized by this church.  Yet when people ask such questions as "human rights allow all humans to have the right to get married".  Sure this notion is true in theory, but we all know about the seperation of church and state.  Since marriage is a church sacrament/ceremony then the technical term "marriage" is not to be used, because the church (which isn't the state) says that marriage (which is a church ceremony) is not allowed.  So why did this topic earn 3 Stars?  Because I do feel like all humans have the right to be UNITED, in unity.  Therefore we can civilly agree that the unity between same sex couples, can be civily united as a civil union.  Going back to my point that all humans have the right to be recognized by the government as a couple, rather then a married couple since marriage is a church ceremony.  UNLESS!!!! Unless your specific church allows same sex couple to be married, for example some Protestant churches.  Marriage takes place in a church, by a church figure, with church rituals, when such a ceremony doesn't take place in a church it is known as a civil union.  Since the church is allowed to have their own ideas and marriage is a church "thing" the state must not have the right to infringe upon these church rights.  Therefore if Elmo and Snuffalufagus want to get married then they can't, they can get civilly united by a government official, assuming these laws are in tact in certain places.  So no marriage cause thats church stuff, and no one wants to unite the church and state, we use the term civil union to show that all humans have the right to unite.

People should be able to marry the adult of their choice, and it isn't any of the state's business.  If your church wants to nail up same-sex couples, that's your problem.

I support same-sex marriages, and their right to adopt or have their own children. One of the adults that had a hand in raising me was homosexual, but did that have anything to do with my upbringing? Umm,  no. To this day, they're still the person I look up to more than anyone, and I'm straight.

I personally think to begin with, gay's just don't have what it takes to live in a real relationship that calles for give and take and they can't walk away from it anytime they please. The rights should be completely different than marrieds and thay need to be treated as singles, which is what thet are!

This is a state issue and should remain that way. The majority of people in Massachusetts believed it should be legalized, so it was voted on and it was. The majority of people in Utah did not believe it should be legalized, so it was voted down in that state. Those that don't want the federal government "in their bedroom" should stop trying to bring the federal government into it to begin with. There is no federal stance one way or the other and it should remain that way. What is deemed equal treatment under the law is decided on by the people. No, it should not be controlled by any cult, such as extremist liberals.

A NEW UPDATE: I see we have new arguments about how people are "born" with certain proclivities and therefore we should accommodate them, particularly, some people are born homosexual so we should allow them to marry. That argument is defective for several reasons.

I suppose the first is the genetic fallacy. Fred is born with homosexual proclivities, therefore Fred must become a homosexual. Does that sound logical?

Another obvious fallacy is affirming the consequent. If Fred is a homosexual, he must have been born with that proclivity. Fred was born with the proclivity to be a homosexual, therefore he is a homosexual. Hmmm!

Good common sense with life experience is another BS detector that lots of us have or should have.

To show how stupid are these allegations that we must allow such "marriage," substitute, with proper syntax, of course any other deviant course of human conduct from serial murder to alcoholism to incest to drug use and on and on into the logical argument to allow homosexual marriage. Of course you must plug in the different endings to carry out the logical tests.

Truth of the matter lies in the fact that all humans are born with certain proclivities. Except for certain psychoses, science does not recognize an irresistable impulse. In other words, fellow citizens, behavorism determines almost all conduct.

In conclusion society does not have to condone deviance by approval such as allowing a deviant "marriage." Behavior can overcome such "impulses."

LATEST UPDATE: How does a society survive if we have no families or reproduction? This is really disgusting that this perversion has floated to the top. Marriage and the family, in history, has been and will continue to be the bedrock of any healthy society. If a society advances perversion, that society is well advanced towards decline and fall. Rome in the West is a good example of how perversity helped the ultimate collapse. UPDATE: Disastrous or not, heterosexuals have kept the race going for these last several millennia. Marriage is the vehicle that has preserved and perpetuated the human race. Homosexuality has done nothing to further the advance of mankind.

UPDATE:The Iron Verdict of History shows that societies that are in an advanced state of decline are the ones most concerned with same sex marriage. HMMM! Soon Mohammed and Fatima, Juan and Pilar, and others of that ilk will be running the world. I wonder how they will view this issue.

This is a tough one for me...I know that marriage is between a man and a woman, however I know some gay couples who have been together longer than most married couples and have as much at stake.  They own homes, cars, businesses together and have as much invested financially and mentally as most married couples.  There does need to be some legal protection for a partner should something happen to one of them.  Im still debating in my mind on whether or not they should have kids.  But as our society becomes more accepting I don't know.  I see some of these parents out there and wonder anyways...

I'm honestly not sure how many stars I should give this. In my opinion, gay marriage shouldn't be an issue, because the concept itself is ludicrous. Marriage is a union between a man and a woman. That's what it is, period. But it does seem to be an issue, and a hotly debated one at that. So read my words, and be angered by them if you like. But you can more or less ignore the star rating, because I don't really know how to rate it.

I think its wrong. Im a christian and im not judgeing them by the way they want to live. If they want to live that way then let them. It just aggervates me when they say there christians and try to justify it being ok to be that way. But being gay is one thing getting married is another There spitting in Gods face when they take it that far.

Keep it the way it is except let the partners visit the other one in the hospital.

  its not adam and steve its adam and eve!!!!!!!

from xmelx

Just let 'em **** for christ sake. I feel that we should judge everyone for there lifestyle choices. I drink and smoke and I know it would piss me off if some tried to ban that. Banning gay marrage is unconsitutional,( keep that in mind all you true to the country republicans your screwing with most important American document to ever be written.)

Why should you care who marries who?

  although the idea of this listing is to rate the issues' political importance to our nation, it seems to have instead become a place to voice your opinion on the matter itself.  So, I'll join in. 

 "Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be decieved: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolators nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.  And that is what some of you were.  But you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus CHrist and by the spirit of our God." 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 (NIV)

okay, so here goes.  I do believe that homosexuality is a sin.  It says so in the verse i just cited. I also believe, however, a sin is a sin. each no worse than the next.  while different sins may have different effects on ourselves and those around us, each sin is capable to be forgiven if the sinner repents.  I know that sounds like i put myself in a postition to judge, but believe me, i cannot, for i am a sinner.  while homosexuality is a sin that i cannot support, i too am guilty of my own sins, which i couldn't explect others to support. 

Does this mean i'm homophobic? no.  I had a homosexul professor in college and he was one of my favorites. he taught me more than i could begin to list here. Do i believe homosexuality is a cause for hatred? no. absolutely not. but what truly is? Homosexuals need love and forgiveness just as much, no more, no less that the rest of us.  BUT: i do not think they can have the same rights as a God-honoring marriage, the way that he inteded.  Now, how important is this to our nation? well, if we're going to run our country in Godly manner, it could be quite important. but there are many other things that need to happen before this issue needs much attention.

I do agree that there are more pressing issues to be disgussing. I've thought that all along though. If we had been less religiously influenced back in the day perhaps we could have pulled our finger out a bit earlier, and this topic would just be called marriage...

The sad thing is... although I am naturally and morally opposed to this motion, as a Christian, I can't say anything out against it or I am a 'homophobe'. It is irritating when 'minorities' play the 'race' (I am just generalising, as this has nothing to do with race, of course) card, as you are powerless to counter it.

We are meant to have freedom of speech, but sadly this is not the case in modern society. It is more like 'you have freedom of speech as long as you are a liberal'. Thank God for sites like RateItAll where I can say what I think.... :)

4 out of 5 Baptist 'divorcess' want gays to stop undermining the sanctity of marriage. BTW people the facts are, this country (USA) was not founded at all by Christains. some were diest, but not Christain. Check you history books, and stop shoving your beliefs down peoples throats!

"Gay marriage"...that's a good oxymoron.

Lanceroxes, I pity you. You beleive that since gay people, who you dont even come into contact with, bother you so they shouldnt have the right to marry? Well I could say that your streight marriage, even though I'm not coming into contact with you, is bothering me so you shouldnt have the right to marry. Oh yes, the birds outside bother me, we'll do away with them too, and oh, the children in my neighborhood bother me as well, so lets get rid of those too. Update: I am returning to RateItAll due to my absolute disgust at the majority of closed minded bigots and religious zealots here. Many people think that gay marriage is perverse, but really, their twisted views of the world are what are perverse. Religious beliefs begin to overshadow common sense until a whole new black and white view of the world is taken on. These common senseless people believe that marriage is a union between a man and a women, but honestly, just sit and think for a few minutes, does it matter at all? Really, honestly, think about this. Take god out of the picture and put peoples interests first. Gays are not hurting anyone so really, whats the problem? 

Update: Ghengis: In response to the below regarding homosexuality, psychology and the fall of western civilization, I will adress it as a whole

Yu consider homosexuality a negative "behavior" that can (and should) be stopped. However, homosexuality doesn't harm society, as implied in the latter paragraph, where you argue that heterosexuality has kept us going these past few millenia. I recall that the ancient Greeks considered homosexuality to be the noblest and deepest form of love, yet their civilization did not dry up for lack of heterosexuality. Far from it! It produced minds such as Socrates (who was gay), Homer and Plato. It became the center of the western world in medicine, education, and technology. In short, the Greeks were tolerant towards gays and flourished. And I doubt that we'll ever have a shortage of heterosexual couples, seeing as 90% of the population is such, and there is absolutely nothing suggesting that this number would change. I see your concern though. We're down to our last six billion people!

  Oh, and may I add, the Romans were virulently anti Gay. 

Donovan: I'll agree with your right to excercise your democratic rights to reflect your religious beliefs, but  you cannot be against gay marriage because it is a "perversion" because:

A: What gays do on their own is none of your buisness, it doesn't affect you

B. This is based purely on aesthetics. Basing your morality (ergo legislation) on aesthetics is a logical and ethical fallacy

  I agree with Loerke on two points here: 1) I too am tired of hearing and arguing about this topic. 2) I don't see this as a religious issue. If one's particular religion condemns it, then so be it; but I agree with Loerke and those who disagree with me- public policy should not be made where such policies are derived directly from a particular religion. It is true, we are not a theocracy.

My final word then is this: Loerke and others don't want any "firebrand" religion or perceived morality based on religion forced upon them. Likewise, the majority of the American people have shown repeatedly that they don't want "gay marriage" forced upon them. Let's be consistent.

I'm getting really tired of talking about this issue because it's so damn obvious to me that the anti-gay marriage people don't have a leg to stand on. This is far from being the most important issue in the U.S. today, but it's also one that is being discussed in ways that frankly anger me. Two primary arguments are being made against the right of gays and lesbians to marry: one that depends on a particularly narrow definition of Christianity, and another that has nothing to do with God but rather with a particularly narrow definition of Nature. The people making the first argument are frankly not worth answering because they do nothing but fall back on beliefs that they have no right to ask us to share. The people making the second argument are far more intelligent, but more insidious because they may persuade others with their dubious logic. To say that reproduction is natural because it has kept the human race going since time immemorial is fine, but it's equally natural for human beings to be born having same-sex desires: homosexuality exists in every other animal species, and I don't see why we humans are any different. One would have to be very blind to much of human history to assert that "homosexuality has done nothing to further the advance of mankind." Since when is sheer reproduction always and everywhere a good thing? Nor can one equate heterosexuality with reproduction: am I any less straight just because I don't want to have kids? Recent history has shown us that, even in the face of considerable stigmatization, same-sex marriages are just as viable as ones involving partners of both sexes, and the same goes for families. I would really appreciate it if the anti-gay marriage crowd would stop making such broad generalizations about something they don't seem to know very much about. Maybe they should actually get to know some gay and lesbian families first.

hmmmmmmmm. im gay. im getting married to my beautiful girlfriend. we function as a normal hetero family would. we go out to dinner, have a social life, clean our house, go to work, talk, eat, and sleep just like the rest of you. we have amazing sex (unlike some of you). we are planning our first pregnancy, by a sperm doner (just l;ike many straight couples) i dont see the problem. and by the way, i was born gay. thats all there is too it. i have always been attracted to girls, and i always will be. oh, and no one can be "saved" from homosexuality. just because you act like you are attracted to the opposite sex, doesnt mean that you are straight. that is all.

"A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both." Dwight D. Eisenhower.  Just because men and women have the freedom to express themselves does not mean that they should abuse this power with there immoral beliefs.

how can ppl b against gay marraige, do u all wake up and decide ur gonna just love a certain person? no! we love who we love and gays shouldnt b penalized for loving the same sex. we need to b more open minded, were not god and we shouldnt judge like god.

lets let people get married to animals,children,trees,a garden hose, hell wake up america some people are sick and we dont have to kiss there ass,,,SAY NO TO GAYS

Well.. A state must hug with the same law all the citizens. Some may think that homosexuality is a sick "choice" but this is wrong. It is something that people are aware of since the day they realize their own sexuality. Whatever religions might say, homosexuality is something that existed, exists and will exist around the world and about a 10% of a total population will always be gay/lesbian. So, states must decide whether they will still be un-democratic and disrespectful against their citizens or they will give the rights that are analogous to gay couples. Not just the U.S.A. but also every country that respects human rights.

Pure Satanic deception. Check homosexuality at Bible Bulletin Board www.BIBLEBB.com

you know,"god" really doesnt give a crap about gay people, if he did aids would have killed them all off. and all the people that demonstrate against gay marriage sound like they're the ones getting boned in the a**. you know i totally, honestly and truthfully dont care who gets married to who. And i personally would be the ring bearer to the guy/girl that gets married to the horse. and people should learn to deal with their own business/crap. if you're that desperate to piss off people you dont know, for a reason that you only accept on sundays, please go back to your home and please see how many old medications you can put in a smoothie before the walls begin to melt.

Oi, it keeps going. Okay, here I go. (the peanut gallery holds their breath) As much as I dislike the idea of gay marriage based on my beliefs, the overall vibe of society that I'm pulling on in this and many other areas is that it is not the governments place to legislate morality, so despite my objections and the objections of many others we should probably all just shut the hell up and sign off on this. Its a damn democracy and whether the morality police like or not the people will decide what's best for them.

20060803 Update:
Look at the numbers. At the time of this writing 231 reviewers (68.55%) felt that gay marriage was "okay", "good", or "great". Of those, 67.53% voted "great". Fewer than 32% of reviewers belive that gay marriage is "terrible". It really doesn't take a degree in socialogy or statistics to see that the numbers here are not only fairly representative of other national poles but that they also reflect our (your) president's national ratings with slightly less that 32% of respondents believing that he is doing a good job. The numbers also closely reflect the nation's pulse on the matter of stem cell research - again, our president is on the wrong side of the issue! I beg all of you to get to the polls in the comming months so that we DO NOT have more of this religious zeal leading us back to the dark ages. As far as the issue of gay marrige is concerned, stay tuned. Things are going to turn around this fall... I promise...

I'm going to have to agree with StarkTruth on this. I am gay, in a 20 year relationship with my partner in which we are raising our 3 year old daughter. I do not believe that we should have to ask anyone to validate either our commitment to each other or to our sexuality. I also do not believe that it is the role of government to decide who should be validated as conforming to "God's will" or not. For a government to assume that role - as ours in the US has - and to give preferential status and benefits to those who they deem to be in compliance is wrong and a violation of the most basic principles of separation of church and state.

Having said that, and since our government does, in fact, extend it's religious arm into our lives, then I think that marriage, and ALL of the legal benefits that go with it should be available to me and my partner as it is to any "straight" couple. Let's also not forget that the constitution (Federal and States) have always been used to expand and protect the rights of all persons governed by them. To use it as a tool to either grant privileges and special rights to some, or to deny those same privileges and rights to others, opens the door to Marxism indeed. This ridiculous argument serves neither the straight or gay community. It needs to be seen for what it is - yet another wedge issue created to distract, divide, and conquer!

As long as there are government sanctioned relationships that provide legal benefits and privileges then I must vote for allowing myself to partake! Don't throw your God at me! My religion is not YOUR concern!