This amuses me.

[gridlore]

One of the anti-gay marriage people I deal with has devolved (as usual) into screaming, quite imaginative descriptions of what I do with other men (Ha.) and then, oddly enough, it a long screed about Linux users. Took me a minute to figure that one out.

My email is, of course, penguin_boy.

Comments

[aurictech.livejournal.com]

Perhaps I have Vilani ancestry, but I'm rather leery of the idea of gay marriage, primarily because I believe that tinkering with a fundamental institution of society may have unforeseen deleterious side effects. I'm much more a skeptic than an opponent. For once (again, this may be the Vilani in me), I'd like to see a full and open discussion of potential consequences of a proposed social change before said change is implemented, forlorn though this hope may be. OTOH, I realize that some sort of formal recognition of same-sex relationships is both inevitable and necessary; after all, they ain't goin' away. I'm sure that my attitude is no secret to anyone of our mutual acquaintance.

Having said that, I fail to see how support for gay marriage is in any way indicative of the supporter's sexual proclivities. Such an unjustified linkage reminds me of the 1992 Operation Rescue protest here in Baton Rouge. I went to see the protest and counterprotest; after all, since so many people had spent so much time and effort to amuse me, it only seemed right that I should make an appearance. Upon my arrival, I observed an OR protestor haranguing a counterdemonstrating woman in a most unchivalrous fashion. When I suggested that he was being rather undecorus, he proclaimed that, as an obvious homosexual, I was surely going to Hell. As you can imagine, the woman I was dating at the time found this quite amusing....

At any rate, I believe that the debate over the wisdom of this issue is certainly not advanced by ad hominem attacks on participants in said debate, particularly when such ad hominem attacks are based solely on the attacker's assumptions.

[gridlore.livejournal.com]

We've had the discussions, and when asked how gay marriage would affect them, these folks go ballistic. They answer with vaguities like "it would cheapen marriage." OK, how. If two gays get married, *what does it do to your marriage*?

They can't answer. So they scream insults.

[aurictech.livejournal.com]

Ah, but their (apparently) visceral reaction doesn't pertain to my skepticism.

My worry is this:

Given that no-fault divorce has already worked to decouple somewhat the institution of marriage from the responsibility of childrearing, how will gay marriage, with its root premise that marriage is primarily an institution for the convenience of adults, affect society a generation or two down the line?

Honestly, I have no idea how gay marriage would affect society twenty years from now. However, I would prefer that we work out the possible ramifications ahead of time, rather than deal with any problems after they arise.

Obviously, I can point you to online columms (by Stanley Kurtz and Maggie Gallagher, among others) that discuss the potential long-term problems that may arise from acceptance of gay marriage. I would be grateful if you could provide me with similar links to articles that argue in favor of gay marriage.

[pauldrye.livejournal.com]

Given that no-fault divorce has already worked to decouple somewhat the institution of marriage from the responsibility of childrearing, how will gay marriage, with its root premise that marriage is primarily an institution for the convenience of adults, affect society a generation or two down the line?

We already go by that premise, and have for many years. Old people can get married despite there being no possibility of children from the union. Men who've had a vasectomy or, say, an injury that's made them infertile can get married. Adults get married with no intention whatsoever of having children, ever, and there are no sanctions against that.

This cat is way out of the bag already.

[kengr]

Consider that gay marriage would make the situation a *lot* less messy with regards to gays who adopt.

Also consider that a lot of "marriage" has little or nothing to do with child-rearing bnor with the sort of institution that many people *think* it is.