E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS
Fred W. McDarrah / Getty Images
One month after the demonstrations at the Stonewall Inn, activist Marty Robinson speaks to a crowd before the first mass march in support of gay rights in New York on July 27, 1969.
From its beginning with riots against police oppression of gays in New York City more than 40 years ago, the fight for gay rights continues today on new fronts: over marriage, therapies to “cure” homosexuals and one of the country's most popular institutions, the Boy Scouts of America.
Next week, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in two landmark, same-sex-marriage cases.
“The swift road to marriage equality has produced millions of conversations around the dinner table and water cooler on the freedom of every American to marry the person they love. It is these conversations that have changed minds. But while we've reached the tipping point on marriage, there's still a ways to go for full LGBT equality, like ending bullying in schools and workplace discrimination,” Kevin Nix, a spokesman for the LGBT advocacy group, Human Rights Campaign, said in a statement.
Here is a look at some of the key moments in American LGBT history:
June 28, 1969: Start of the gay rights movement
The Stonewall Riots begin after police raid a popular unlicensed gay bar, the Stonewall Inn, in New York City's Greenwich Village. The riots, which lasted for days, were triggered by police harassment of gays, according to media reports. This is considered by many to herald the start of the gay rights movement in the U.S.
June 27-28, 1970: First gay pride parades
On the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, the nation's first gay pride parades are held in four cities – New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Fred Sergeant, who attended the NYC parade, reflected in the Village Voice: “Back then, it took a new sense of audacity and courage to take that giant step into the streets of Midtown Manhattan. ... I stayed at the head of the march the entire way, and at one point, I climbed onto the base of a light pole and looked back. I was astonished; we stretched out as far as I could see, thousands of us.” Pride events now are held worldwide every year.
AP
San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk, left, and Mayor George Moscone in April 1977.
Nov. 27, 1978: Assassination of Harvey Milk
Milk became the first openly gay man elected to office in a major U.S. city when he won a seat on San Francisco's Board of Supervisors in early 1978. An outspoken advocate for gay rights, he urged gays to come out and fight for their rights. Milk and Mayor George Moscone were assassinated by former supervisor Dan White. But Milk's legacy has lived on and California has designated May 22 as a day of “special significance” in his honor.
1981: The AIDS crisis
Gay advocacy groups form to deal with the crisis gripping the community amid a slow government response to AIDS and the linking of the disease with gay men. Over the years, the AIDS Quilt will form, and some well-known figures will succumb to AIDS, including actor Rock Hudson, or be diagnosed with it, like basketball star Magic Johnson.
Wilfredo Lee / AP
President Bill Clinton answers questions during a news conference in Taylor, Mich., in 1996.
1993: 'Don't ask, don't tell'
President Bill Clinton enacts "don't ask, don't tell," a policy preventing gays from openly serving in the military. Under it, an estimated 13,000 people were expelled from the U.S. Armed Forces. President Barack Obama repealed the policy in 2011.
1996: Congress bars federal recognition of same-sex marriage (DOMA)
Congress passes the Defense of Marriage Act. Section 3 of the statute bars recognition of same-sex marriage, affecting more than 1,100 provisions of federal laws. It denies gay couples the right to file joint taxes and the protections of the Family Medical and Leave Act, and it blocks surviving spouses from accessing veterans’ benefits, among other things. The Supreme Court will hear a challenge to DOMA on March 27, 2013. Bill Clinton, who signed the legislation, recently came out against the law and asked the Supreme Court to repeal it.
April 30, 1997: 'Yep, I'm gay' -- Degeneres comes out
Ellen Degeneres comes out on her television show, "Ellen," in an episode that drew in 42 million viewers. Her ratings plunged, which she said was due to a lack of promotion, and the show was pulled the next season, according to The Hollywood Reporter. But she bounced back and she now hosts a popular afternoon talk show, "The Ellen Degeneres Show." Her “coming out” heralded an era of other gay celebrities following suit, and LGBT leading ladies and men have in the last year said they felt it was unnecessary to reveal their sexual preference.
Evan Agostini / Getty Images
Candlelight vigil for slain gay Wyoming student Matthew Shepard.
Oct. 12, 1998: Matthew Shepard's beating death
Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson rob and beat Shepherd, a 21-year-old college student, and tie him to a split-rail fence outside of Laramie, Wyo. He dies on Oct. 12, less than a week after the attack. The murder, for which the pair are each serving two consecutive life sentences, inspired "The Laramie Project," a play and later film about Laramie in the year after the murder, and federal hate crimes legislation approved in 2009 that bears Shepard's name.
2000: Boy Scouts can ban gays
The Supreme Court rules that the Boy Scouts of America can bar gay Scouts and leaders from membership, saying that as a private youth organization it has the right to do so. Under increasing pressure in recent years to change the policy, the BSA has said it will hold a vote on the controversial membership guidelines in May.
Toby Talbot / AP
Lawyers Susan Murray, left, and Beth Robinson brought a lawsuit before the Vermont Supreme Court that led to the court's decision on same-sex marriage in 2000.
2000: First state to allow same-sex civil unions
Vermont becomes the first state to allow same-sex couples to join their lives via civil unions. The state approved same-sex marriage in 2009.
2003: Anti-sodomy law struck down
The Supreme Court strikes down a Texas anti-sodomy law, reversing an earlier decision made in another case 17 years earlier that Justice Anthony Kennedy said “demeans the lives of homosexual persons.” Gays are ''entitled to respect for their private lives," Kennedy said for the court, according to The New York Times. ''The state cannot demean their existence or control their destiny by making their private sexual conduct a crime.''
2004: State same-sex marriage bans
A dozen states pass constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage. The amendments become a popular method to attempt to block legislative acts and judicial decisions on the issue.
Rich Pedroncelli / AP
Jeff Barr, left, places a wedding ring on Wes Wilkinson at the Yolo County clerk's office in Woodland, Calif. on June 16, 2008. They were among the first gay couples to wed in Yolo County after the California Supreme Court overturned a ban on same-sex marriages.
2008: California's Prop. 8 nixes gay marriage
California’s Supreme Court rules that gays and lesbians should be allowed to wed. For a short time that year, some 18,000 same-sex couples tie the knot in the Golden State. But in November, voters approved a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage (Proposition 8) after a hard-fought, multimillion-dollar campaign – one of the most expensive on this issue. The Supreme Court will hear a challenge to Prop. 8 on March 26, 2013.
Pete Souza / White House via EPA
In an interview with Robin Roberts of ABC's "Good Morning America," on May 9, 2012, President Barack Obama spoke in support of gay marriage for the first time as president.
May 9, 2012: First sitting president to support same-sex marriage
Barack Obama becomes the first sitting U.S. president to back marriage for gay and lesbian couples. It marked a reversal from his 2008 campaign, when he said he opposed same-sex marriage but favored civil unions as an alternative. His announcement came one day after voters in North Carolina passed a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage as well as civil unions for gay and lesbian couples.
Nov. 4, 2012: In a first, gay marriage wins at the ballot box
Voters in Maine approve same-sex marriage in the first vote brought by supporters, while voters in Maryland and Washington uphold state legislation allowing gays and lesbians to wed. And in Minnesota, voters reject – for just the second time nationwide – a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.
Related:
Same-sex marriage's big day in court: What's at stake?
Once 'inconceivable,' Republican leaders sign pro-gay marriage brief
Even before Supreme Court rules, gay marriage battles rage in the states
Leave a Comment:
We still have a long way to go to secure our full civil rights though. SCOTUS this week and over the next couple of months as they make their decisions on the two cases could be the major turning point in that battle.
Agreed. No matter what the outcome is from SCOTUS, we still have a long way to go, and the fight for equal rights doesn't end
William B. Travis
You mean, the right to practice bigotry, stupidity and ignorance is disgusting? Don't like gay marriages? Don't get in one.
And YOUR rights end where mine begin...per the Bill of Rights. That is the fine line written into the US Constitution.
William B. Travis
Yes, there is. It's legal in 9 US States and in the District of Columbia. :).
As for 'no one' who gets married is happy for very long. Hmmm.. My grandparents were married for 75 years, they were happy. I know gay couples who have been together for 50 years, they are HAPPY and NOW married.
:)
P.S. Draft? When are we going to have a draft? Oh wait, if the republicans start another war, we may have to have the draft.
The objections to gay marriage are dying off every year. The only generation which opposes gay marriage? 66 and older with 44% support. Contrast that with Americans 18-29, of whom 81% support gay marriage.
William B. Travis,
"How could gays consummate their marriage without a little buggery!"
I don't know why you people are so obsessed with anal intercourse. Maybe you suffer from what Sigmund Freud call an "anal fixation" or "anal retentiveness". That's due to improper toilet training, I think. There are other ways for gay men to have sex than anal intercourse, you know.
look at all the supreme court lawyers here with their made up numbers....if you are posting numbers then SOURCE it and show the SOURCE.
Gay what ever...this is NBC printing daily gay news...just about every hour....NBC is GAY period.
America has bigger problems then GAY GAY GAY everything.
Internet forum lawyers LOL.....NBC printing gay news every hour...even more LOL.
All the people railing for or against this malarkey...PRICELESS
I am of the older generation and I did have battles with my Selective Service Board back in the 60's, over both my conscientious objector status and my declaring my homosexuality on my second pre-induction physical. And I was first alternate for both the AFA and NA in the early 60's. Thought I could serve as a chaplain until I realized that my duties would require me to make sure that my fellow service members were right back out on the field killing people.
BTW, sex is not part of a gay wedding any more than it is of a hetero wedding
I do find it odd that some people hear the word "gay" and their mind automatically pictures graphic sex scenes. Do they also picture graphic sex scenes when they hear the word "heterosexual"? Because plenty of things we straight, married people do in the privacy of our bedrooms can cross the line into "disgusting" for some people.
Perhaps folks should consider why they need to waste their time thinking about other people having sex. And William B. Travis - why is your nose in someone else's bedroom and what does the draft have to do with this conversation?
What does consummation of marriage through sex have to do with the marriage ceremony? I have NEVER attended a wedding ceremony where sex was part of it, hehe. And today, most couples have already had sex with each other long before their "wedding ceremony."
I am not sure what consummation has to do with this conversation. As far as I know, the United States marriage laws are not based on the Catholic Canon. And while I understand that historically marriage has served to bind people together to provide a structure for families, there are so many different (and perfectly legal) ways that heterosexual people break up the family unit (divorce, children out of wedlock, etc.) that it makes no sense to deny gays the right to marry as a measure to protect marriage as a structure for raising families.
In fact it's backwards -- if we want to protect the family unit, we should focus on heterosexual people and all the things they are doing to erode the family unit and the need for marriage as a foundation for raising children.
William B. Travis,
"Do they perform these at the wedding???"
Do heterosexuals have sex at their weddings? What a stupid question! And what do your quotations above from St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Augustine have to do with homosexuality?
Great moments in sodomite history. What a joke.
Timothy1Mil,
"Great moments in sodomite history. What a joke."
I suppose you think the black civil rights movement and the women's rights movements are a joke, too. The truth is that this article barely scratched the surface of the history of the struggle for gay rights. They only traced it back to the Stonewall Riots in 1969, but it really goes back much farther than that. 1859 might be a better starting year with Walt Whitman and Edward Carpenter in the United States and Oscar Wilde in Britain. The German homosexual movement of 1897 to 1907 led by such men as Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld, Otto Spengler, and Dr. Georg Merzbach also had a lot to do with it. But this article only begins with modern times and leaves out much of what came before that.
William, you old fart, put down the shotgun and take one enemy at a time. Leave out the Mexicans and Catholics and you simply have the civil get-together of two home-grown people, many veterans at that. They're no more in your face than the Irish and Italians when they have their parades.
only 1 question for you travesty - what does it matter what 2 consenting adults do in the privacy of a bedroom? Do you want to either participate or watch?
W. Travis: do you enjoy going around sniffing other people like a dog? Keep your nose out of other people's business and you won't get that bigoted offended wiff of which you write.
Oink.
.
so... the entire movement all started with a case of police brutality?
William B. Travis,
"You don't get the "willful ignorance" essay? Hits most people like a hammer."
Yes. But the willful ignorance argument is a two edged sword that cut both ways. One could just as easily argue that you are willfully ignorant of the issues involved here. And, by the way, your latter comments are a big descent from the intellectual quotes you gave from St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Augustine. I can respect both of those men, but I think you are beginning to "lose it" because of anger.
@WBT:
Gays have been around for all times. Learn to live with it.
If you have by any chance a King James edition of the Bible, keep in mind that King James was gay.
William B. Travis,
"Willful ignorance is about people who choose to make up their own rules and deviate from normal law abiding society."
And who made up the rules that govern so-called "normal law abiding society"? Did you know that St. Thomas Aquinas also argued in favor of burning heretics at the stake? It just goes to show that even the wisest of men can be fools sometimes. He was a great logician, but he was not infallibly wise.
William B. Travis
I have respect for everyone who picks up the uniform to serve this nation. Did you serve? If you did, then you did it to serve, protect, and defend the United States Constitution did you not? Guess what, that means "WE THE PEOPLE" which includes gay and lesbian AMERICANS.
As for sodomy... shaking head, yes, if you participate in oral sex, then you are committing sodomy according to the BIBLE.
Lawrence VS Texas - When two consenting adults of the same sex participate in SEX, it is NOT ILLEGAL.
William B. Travis,
"The point of all of this is that homosexuality is not the normal way to be."
It may not be the "normal" way to be, but it is the way they are, and the only way they can be since the very thought of having sex with the opposite sex is repugnant to most of them. You can't make someone like what he or she does not, in fact, like. Sometimes you just have to accept reality.
Let them do what they want. Your here and your queer and I'm straight and I'm late. Get these people off the streets enough with the parades and protests already.
You do realize, swamplife, that the great country we live in is all about the freedom to be on the streets with parades and protests even if you don't like it?
Sadly folks like you never do realize that. I would prefer to never see another heterosexual couple sucking face in the park, but that's the land of the free for you. DEAL WITH IT.
I agree krell. When the heteros stop all displays of affection in public, then our parades and protests MIGHT end. No more sucking face in public, no more hand holding in public, no more wedding bands, no more family photos on desks, and the list goes on endlessly.
"Let them do what they want", or "get these people off the streets"? Which is it? Not that it matters.
And the battle between the progressives and the regressives goes on!
My parents had nothing to do with my views on society today. My views are based upon my own observations of the current societal reactions.
@WBT:
You seem to think a lot about gay sex. That's telling something.
Just as with the African-American struggle for their civil rights, and women's suffrage before that, it takes those parades and protests to get you to finally accept us and grant us our full civil rights. Until that has been achieved, the parades and protests will continue. Get used to it. And stop your PDA's.
BTW, even though "we're here and we're queer" has been the chant at the parades for decades, we are no more 'queer" than any of you in the heterosexual community. And you are also no more "straight" than any of us, so I don't know what you are late for, hehe. The "gay/straight" labels have always bothered me. Each human being is individually somewhere along the scale of 1-10 of the sexual orientation scale, with most people in the 3-8 region.
How do you know for sure that is was your "God" that "created" the world, and didn't create two men first? Trusting in the words of that "holy book" written by men centuries after the stories were passed on by oral stories leads a lot of room for doubt in the authenticity of any of those writings.
William B. Travis
I know, why does god create a male/female that cannot procreate?? Should we stone them? Should we strip them of their civil rights? I mean, how can this be? They shouldn't be allowed to get married.
God does not make the civil rights for the United States of America. God is not part of the United States Constitution, our secular laws, neither is the bible, nor is Christianity. So, keep your beliefs in your god, but keep them OUT of our secular laws.
William B. Travis
Interesting. Did you know 'In god we trust" was not added until the 1950s?
Did you know, that the BIBLE IS NOT the basis of the laws of the United States? Did you know, when any public official takes the oath of office it says "to serve, protect, and defend the United States Constitution " NOT THE BIBLE?
Did you know, John Adams (2nd President of the United States) did not use a bible to be sworn in as President.
Did you know, the first amendment "Congress shall MAKE NO LAWS for the establishment of a religion"
God can be everywhere, but he is NOT in the secular laws of the United States of America. Period.
Nonsense! If YOU trusted in God, you wouldn't be here displaying your hatred for other human beings.
Where in this thread did I ever indicate that I trust Obama? He is NOT part of this conversation and you and others introduced your "God" into it. This story is about the history of the gay rights movement and my initial comment was about how far we still have to go to achieve those equal rights granted to us by the US Constitution.
BTW, most of our founding fathers were NOT christians, but were Deists. I'm more of a humanist now, with a certain amount of belief in the deism concept plus some oriental and Native American philosophies tied in.
From Wikipedia:
Just as Mythology was practiced and deeply believed by ancient societies in Greece, Egypt, Nordic lands, South America, Africa and Asia, Christianity is the popular mythology of our time in this country.
Someday, if we make it that far as a species, we will scratch our heads and wonder how anyone could believe such silly stories as those we find in the Bible.
According to your creation mythology, wasn't "Eve" cloned from Adam's rib? That would make her a transgendered clone.
well, gee travesty - since the first animals were single celled and reproduced by "division" and over a couple billion years evolved into the higher level creatures that WE ARE, IF you are so mentally challenged (or "brainwashed" if you wish) to try to attribute that to a mythical supreme entity... but then there have always BEEN reichwingnutreligionazis...
WBT:
A suggest you read the Article VI paragraph 3 of The Constitution of The United States: no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.
so trav - are you out of your fuc king MIND? There are NO (and never has BEEN) ANYTHING SUPERNATURAL
That you are SO mentally challenged to even CONSIDER the premise essentially PROVES the previous question.
Ghoulies and ghosties and long legged beasties and things that go BUMP in the night... indeed (ALL imaginary, of course)
What "supernatural events"?
You sound rather delusional.
Sounds like a mass hallucination of people who are rather gullible and suggestible, and already prone to religious delusions.
No surprise that there aren't any photos or actual evidence.
skrekk,
"No surprise that there aren't any photos or actual evidence."
Don't challenge him. He will probably provide you with some photos of the supernatural. You can work wonders with Photo Shop.
cameras present at the supposed appearance of "fatima" showed NOTHING - yet the "faithful" said that they saw something.
IDIOTS abound and support their "faith" - that nothing appeared to anyone ELSE is immaterial...
put a fork on it,
"immaterial..."
Was that meant as a pun?
more or less - I caught it after I posted it, but it "fits" the situation
put a fork in it,
"it "fits" the situation"
Yes, it does; very well!
thank yuh... thank yuh vurry much...
This was a good article but you missed what was perhaps the most important Milestone, 1973: the American Psychiatric Association removes Homosexuality from the list of Mental Disorders helping to pave the way for research to show that Homosexuality is a Genetic Trait one is born with and NOT a choice one makes.
apa make up your mind already! Now we have the american p.a. saying that living gay is a trait. Funny this wasn't the case years ago. Now all we need is to get all the so call professionals who studied this field and bring them back to the classroom and have them start all over again because they got it wrong the first time. Their license is now worthless because of these findings . The ones with the real problem is not the people its those who are in position of authority who would like to change the demographics of our society . No respect here for you apa. You failed the people.
bull crap bob gays are mental, your trying to tell me that having a man ram his junk up your butt or ramming his junk down your mouth is normal? You know this is not right yet you keep on doing it why? You want to get married why? You say but I love him but what you are really thinking is I'm nasty and like my but rammed and I like to suck his junk, No body wants to hear you whine about being gay except other gays, And you wonder why people hate gays.....................
Now we all know what 'silver' likes to think about........
As a student of quantitative behavioral genetics, twin research shows there is a combination of genetic, common environmental and unique environmental components. A recent paper implicates a molecular change (epigenetics) during a critical stage of development (that would be environmental), and I believe that this would mean that the behavior would be difficult to change (just as most personality traits are stable according to the DSM). I agree with the DSM that it's not a psychological disorder, but I don't think it's a normal variation that is consistent with evolutionary parsimony in relation to reproduction.
The government already agrees with it. The Supreme Court has already ruled on this and struck down sodomy laws. (It's in the article above.) Both gay and straight people are allowed to have sex in any manner we choose in the privacy of our bedrooms as long as it is consensual.
I still can't figure out why you and some of these other people are so obsessed with the kinds of sex acts performed in a marriage. It seems like what you are really arguing about is that some sex acts are disgusting and should be illegal rather than the right to marry.
@janellect
There is infinitely more to life than your sterile, condescending academic bs.
oh well...
janellect,
"I don't think it's a normal variation that is consistent with evolutionary parsimony in relation to reproduction."
What do you mean by "evolutionary parsimony in relation to reproduction"? Isn't it true that certain creatures lay millions of eggs to ensure reproduction even though only one of those eggs will be fertilized? That doesn't sound like parsimony to me; it sounds like evolutionary extravagance.
William B. Travis,
"Why do homosexuals have to have sex at all?"
Do you suppose it might just possibly be because they are human? Sex is not just a mechanism for reproduction; it is also a means of expressing love and intimacy between two people.
Good Wolf. I just knew I would be insulted by someone who can't play nice. Can you explain why you think that the inability to naturally reproduce is a normal variant? A loss of function is not usually desirable. Maybe you can explain to me why you think it is, and I would agree? Any type of "gay" mating behavior in flies is due to a loss or gain function (fru gene).
I have no issues with rights, as our society does not discriminate against homosexual behavior. But I also have my own right to try and reconcile why nature has contributed to this "round about" or non-parsimonious way of reproduction via artificial means.
BTW, infertility is a loss of function which is not normal. So am I wrong for saying that?
janellect,
"our society does not discriminate against homosexual behavior"
It has done so until just very recently, and it still does in many ways. There is a very good book you might read in that respect called Gay American History: Lesbians and Gay Men in the U.S.A. by Jonathan Katz. Much of it makes pretty depressing reading, though. I have no objection to your posts, but I don't understand what you mean when you speak of "parsimony in relation to reproduction". I'm not a geneticist.
"infertility is a loss of function which is not normal."
But gay people are not biologically infertile. They could reproduce if they had the inclination to do so.
Mickey - Thanks for your thoughtful and considerate reply.
I was under the assumption that this "inclination" would not occur naturally unless of course one falls into the "bi" category. Maybe there is an evolutionary purpose or reason for homosexuality... but this phenotypic behavior (observable characteristics) does not confer a reproductive advantage that's obvious at this time.
I don't wish to begrudge anyone happiness... after all we only get this one chance.
janellect,
"Maybe there is an evolutionary purpose or reason for homosexuality"
Maybe. But isn't ascribing a purpose to evolution contrary to the generally accepted view of it? Isn't evolution supposed to be more or less random and without any goal or purpose? To say it has a goal or purpose would seem to imply that there is some sort of intelligence that is guiding it toward a goal. That was always my understanding of it, at least, but I'm not a biologist.
Yes, you're right about it being random. "Natural selection" is happens when the trait confers an advantage... like speech. When we gained the ability to speak, we became vulnerable to choking on food... but the ability to speak was more beneficial to humans. Otherwise it would not have taken a foothold (or became rare).
How again is it that these "unions" contribute to the perpetuation of the world? And we are supposed to overlook that itsy bitsy issue of procreation? Really?
Left to your homosexual devices the world ends. You may have a smile on your short-sighted face, but your heritage is a short one.
stupid post. gay men can father children, and lesbians can give birth. If we all turned gay tomorrow, the world would go on.
clue for the clueless: procreation is not the same as sexual attraction. lol.
and procreation is not a requirement for marriage. I sure hope you hate sterile people and old people who want to get married too. Oh, wait, you don't, you're a hypocrite. :)
By the way, how does your ignorance and hatred contribute to the world? I actually hope you do NOT procreate, we'd all be better off. :)
William B. Travis
So, what if the world was only filled with men/women who could not procreate. How would we go on?
Answer that professor :)
Just because two adults cannot procreate doesn't mean they cannot be legally married. NICE TRY
if everyone was celibate the human race would die off as well, but last I checked you aren't aren't calling for it to be illegal for a person to be celibate. If homosexuality should not be allowed because "if the world is filled" with them then we will die out, than celibacy must also not be allowed by the same reasoning.
2,000,000 children are being raised in same-sex households in the the U.S. alone. At the same time, there are many married heterosexual couples who are unable or unwilling to have children. Why aren't you going after THEM?
In addition, research shows that happy marriages are good for people, and good for society.
Someone needs to tell Showshanda that legalizing gay marriage doesn't mean that heterosexual couples will cease getting married and having children.
Really? This is your big argument? That the world would cease to exist if everyone was gay? The world would also cease to exist if everyone were zombies, or infertile, or infected with Ebola, or a million other scenarios that anyone could dream up.
The majority of the population is straight and will continue to procreate. How does allowing gays to marry affect the procreation abilities of other people?
dunno - research the Donner expedition or Alferd Packer
William B. Travis,
"I'd like to see this."
Haven't you heard of artificial insemination and in vitro fertilization. With modern advances in genetics, the time may come, and sooner than you think, when sex will no longer be a prerequisite for reproduction at all.
William B. Travis
So you cannot provide a legal reason why gays/lesbians cannot be married?
William B. Travis,
"Plus why would gays even talk to lesbians?"
The truth of the matter is that the relationship between gay men and lesbians is not always the rosiest you can imagine, but they are human beings and do often form lasting friendships.
Showshanda, legal unions of gays isn't going to do anything to change population. It is not like they wouldn't be gay if the unions weren't legal. Either way they have sex with the same sex.
How sad that the american pschiatric association has deemed to say that the practice of homesexuality is a trait when years ago this was not the case. Lets throw out all the research from prior analyst and therapist shall we? So, in other words all the students that attended universities and passed their courses based on the medical findsing of those who have done this work prior . so your saying they failed? then lests bring back those professionals who said homosexaulity was a choice fired them and begin the whole schooling process all over again."Me thinks the apa is sick in the head too!. why dont' you make up your weired mind already apa? This country is in the dumps along with its educational system, and the organizations that are funded with our tax doallrs . Idiots living among us.
yes, and remember when the bible "proved" that slavery was ok, and when "science" proved that the earth was flat? lets bring back that too! lol.
Yes. I mean, when people can't even SPELL or use the correct grammar? Yes, our education system is 'in trouble' in this nation.
As for the 'content' of the comment, well... I think Vermont Guy answered that just fine!
Um, wow. I think you win the prize for most illogical argument on this board.
Scientific research and discoveries cause us to change our understanding of all kinds of things ALL THE TIME. Isn't that the whole point of science research in the first place? To refine and better understand everything from evolution to disease and genetics and gravity and medicine?
I cannot believe the insanity that some people show here. IF all people in the world were gay(sic). If you ever bothered to study ancient history, bisexuality was more the norm in Rome and was not the cause of it's demise. Second, the Nazis and Social Darwinism had a plethora of scientific studies supporting their beliefs.
At one time, with the Keys of Peter, that allows on earth what is in heaven,or vice verse, the Catholic Church married gay noblemen prior to the Reformation. And finally, why are all of the haters so obsessed with the sexual acts they find disquieting. Is it that they feel that marriage to Bubba is easier and more appealing than marriage to Barbara? The way some men think, it might be, excluding the sex. But that speaks reams about their thoughts on women , their own sexual bent , rather than the issue of same sex marriage as a social concern.
Religion of all types which billions of people follow worldwide still say its perversion. That attitude will not change in your life time or your children s or there children. There is still a long way to go.
we'll see. Plenty of christians have changed their attitudes, for example. And in terms of muslims, we all think of countries like saudi arabia and iran, but the biggest islamic country in terms of population, indonesia, is much more tolerant. And the "asian" religions of hinduism/buddism/ancestor worship are certainly less openly against it as well.
I agree it won't change overnight, and in some parts of the religions it won't ever change, but given the speed of change so far, I think you might be underestimating how fast progress can be made.
Rick, Its a long road to travel. I also read that science will intervene eventually to remove certain chromosomes or something while the baby is in the womb. The article which was on MSNBC a while ago stated that you will guaranteed a heterosexual baby.
Ray, Science is already performing this procedure.
It doesn't matter what one of the oldest books in the world says... it doesn't matter what the man in the sky (as you LOVE to call him) says. It doesn't matter what humans have been doing from the beginning of recorded time say or think. All that truly matters is what you, the 3% feel. We and are our beliefs-tradition's... you could give a rats ass.
ME, US, WE... you want what we have, what we have always had. Well soon you will have it, all of it. It will not change anything and it will change everything. When you say"In GOD we trust" and you don't. When you say one nation under GOD, but through a "new" law you put yourself above GOD. Then you are committing the ultimate betrayal. God has been with us from the very beginning America... and we where, for the most part, with him. This vote, this change is a wolf is sheep's clothing. May GOD have mercy on the TRUE children of this country.
Never is the history of mankind have so few dedicated the future of so many...
silly post. Gay marriage changes nothing on this issue. If you believe that being gay is wrong, gays sinned well before they get married. duh. Unless you think all gays are celebrate before marriage? :)
And even if they are celebate, no doubt they had "lust in their heart" for other men, so its the same as actually having sex.
Has nothing to do with sex, it's about voting into law that we don't agree with GOD or his laws... we and our laws trump GOD's!
and premarital sex (which is also a sin, right?) isn't illegal either, so our laws have ALWAYS "trumped" god's.
why do you obsess about gays? :)
you folks are flaming hypocrites. You want to make sins that don't concern you illegal (like gay marriage), while turning a blind eye to sins like premarital sex. lol.
No, because sex is not ordained under GOD, marriage is... premarital sex is not being voted on here.
lol, but why aren't you advocating to make premarital sex illegal? You could start a petition TODAY to make it illegal. And every other sin too of course.
because you are a hypocrite and only want to make things for others illegal. :)
PS - you didn't even get your own religion right. Sex is ordained by god too: "We don't know if such speculations are accurate, but sexuality is to remain pure nonetheless. This means that the marriage bed must not violate the commandments of God in deed or thought -- no adultery, no pornography, no voyeurism, no bestiality, incest, etc. The sexual union is God-ordained and God-given and must be experienced in a godly way within marriage."
lol, I have to correct you on christianity even. :)
we and our laws trump GOD's!
Why, yes, yes they do, Speedy. That's why the Constitution is the law of the land, and not the Bible. Good point, so glad you made it without our assistance!
@GOD SPEED -- If you actually trusted in God, you wouldn't be here displaying your hatred for other human beings that happen to be different from you. Look that up in your bible, hypocrite!
ah yes, bringing in "religion" - the opium of the masses for those who can't afford the real. thing...
There is no such thing as "homosexual marriage". Marriage is only possible between heterosexual couples.
Homosexuals must forever deal with the fact that what they do is aberrant; what they do is immoral; what they do is sin.
Leviticus 18:22 Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.
there is no such thing as intelligence in LR.
We must forever deal with his stupid posts.
Leviticus 11:9: These shall ye eat of all that are in the waters: whatsoever hath fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, and in the rivers, them shall ye eat.
So, how much effort have you put into the Red Lobster issue, LR? Think of how many souls you can save if you just get them to close their doors forever.
Loansome Rhodes -
My two nephews have been very disobedient lately...about how many rocks does it take to thoroughly kill someone? I thought I would consult your expert advise because according to Deuteronomy 21:18-21 my brother is supposed to stone them to death.
buy-bull bulls hit - worth SOMETHING, but I don't know WHAT ... fertilizer, maybe?
Why get married when we could live like animals. Oh wait! we already do.
Speak for yourself. Thanks.
so we DO live like animals - we have places to live and associate with other animals...
Do you have a point or are you just stating the obvious? get born, live, eat, reproduce, die...no revelation there
I am not a republican I am a straight 58 year old white male conservative leaning individual. I think we should either allow gay marriage or full benefit civil unions. I don't think we should force any church to perform marriages or face loosing their tax exempt status because of their moral stances. I also don't think we should insult people for having a different moral code in support for which side of the debate we are on.
Let's just treat all Americans equally under the law using the exact same legal contract of marriage. No need to change anything other than to make the law gender-neutral.
Ummmm......that's never happened, nor can it happen given the 1st Amendment. Your favorite cult is free to be as bigoted and ignorant as it likes and deny religious weddings to gays, mixed-race couples, or divorced persons. FYI, marriage and "holy matrimony" are two different things.
If someone thinks they deserve special rights and privileges while certain other Americans should be 2nd-class citizens who are denied those rights, they fully deserve to be called out on their bigotry.
It's no different at all from the racists who opposed mixed-race marriage.
Shrekk---your posts have become meaningless dribble. Religion as a "cult". Those who don't agree with homosexual marriage are "bigots" or "racists". Have you ever said anything intelligent in this forum? (thats a rhetorical question--the answer is no).
You do sound exactly like one of those racist and homophobic Southern Baptists.
No wonder your side keeps losing in court.
Shrekk---thanks for proving my point! More meaningless garbage from you. Always calling people names who don't buy your homosexual beliefs. Its a sign of weakness....and it comes through in every word you write.
"Homosexual" is not a belief. Ignorance is weakness.
Good Wolf--and your point, if you had one, would be........?
I guess that's why your side has lost every court case to date, eh?
Must be rough to be so ignorant.
Shrekk--your side? Someone speak for me that I'm not aware of? Ha, Ha. Man, you really are the complete fool that you come across as, aren't you! (no response necesary).
OK bellhop - what's your dog in this fight? It shouldn't matter to anyone unless they don't have the same rights as others. (read that any way you like)
Put a fork in it--Bellhop? What a clown you are too! Ha, Ha.
Like I said before - a Marine is a sea-going bellhop - look st the dress uniform (hey, I will admit that you guys were the most mission oriented of the services - must have been that intense training - some would call it "brainwashing")
Put a fork in it---sounds like envy to me. Typically comes from the wannabe's, or the weaker ones who we weed out.
I am a member of a very conservative church and I wish that God would show His displeasure and pour out his wrath on our country (9-11 was from God, by the way).
Maybe a few of these "punishments" would stop this gay rights and worship of the US constitution (worshiping the constitution is idolatry)
Some ideas: (1) Another plague like AIDs on the the gay community, (2) NK nuclear missile to take out SF.
:-)
Any other great ideas like mine?
And your screen name is "Pro Life Activist"...wow!...just WOW!! LOL!
Ya...look up with word hypocrisy.
Are you related to the "Right Reverend Reverend Wright"? Are you saying "God damn America"?
If abnormal people want to flock together, so be it. But just don't let them subject the rest of us "straight" people with their disgusting displays of "affection" and perverted activities. And let them keep their filthy diseases to themselves. The U.S. is already being destroyed, whether it be "God" doing it or the people are doing it without his help.
Sounds like you're a Christofascist who wants the government to enforce the sharia laws of his silly cult.
No wonder they call people like you the "American Taliban".
gee pro - brainwashed from BIRTH, eh? Oh well... reichwingnutreligionazis will congregate...
Pro life activist:
Too bad you have to live across a rainbow house now.
This has been predicted in the bible. Immorality will keep on creeping through the lives of people twisting what was suppose to be the right path set forth by God into a perverted form.
The evil beings of hell are celebrating because they will harvest more souls when same-sex marriage is legalized.
I do not hate gays. I just follow God's WILL and if God's will on marriage is between a man and a woman then that is what I will stand for. All the people in the world can shout that I am a hater but the TRUTH is I am just a follower of God.
Have you talked to God about the type of marriage that you support? Read the bible and see for yourself. If you twist the words of the bible to align with your own version of morality, you will answer to the God of the universe.
Maybe a few more successful 9-11 like attacks would convince us.
It is just for the attack to fall upon the US civilian population since the civilians vote on the issues. Given that most Americans seem to support gay marriage, then it is legitimate that they are attacked militarily.
Like you'd have the stones to do that.
"Like you'd have the stones to do that." - Christians and those in fellowship with God don't have to do anything ourselves: God will choose the method of your punishment and He often uses the wicked to punish the wicked.
Pro life and joe better hope there is a good sale on bermuda shorts before they die. I have a feeling their hateful attitude and irrational excuses won't hold up to well with the man upstairs.....and you know what that means...
gee - a religious nutter babbling about what a different batch of religious nutters did... strange bedfellows...
Stetes rights.......trampled underfoot as usual. Watch a "gay pride" parade, and if those loons are the deal, we are all in trouble!
Watch any heterosexual Mardi Gras/Carnival/Carnivale parade and you will see lots worse displays of sex than I have ever seen at any of the gay pride events that I attended before moving to the Caribbean. And yes, I was part of the 1994 Stonewall 25th Anniversary Gay Pride Parade and helped to carry the mile long rainbow flag with a full dress uniform marine marching right next to me.
Yep, just like when you nuts lost on the mixed-race marriage issue.
so there was a little military conflict some 150 years ago about "states rights" to "own people" - the "state's rights" LOST...
Go "honk Bobo" and leave normal folks alone....
I don't care if same sex people want to be together,that's between them and God,but NO to marriage. Marriage is supposed to be a sacred vow under God,or at least it used to be before America voted in our Anti-Christ Fuhrer Obozo and his Godless administration. Time for society to follow God's laws,not some Godless POS like Obozo.
Too bad our government isn't allowed to enforce your sharia laws, eh?
funny thing antie - I don't see anything "religious" in a legal document issued by a governing body...
now, YOU, otoh, must be a bit mentally unbalanced because you have this idiotic notion about "christianity"...
How odd that NBC fails to recognize that the AIDS epidemic was the direct result of the "gay rights" movement.
hoping that god sends another gay "punishment" soon!
are you willing to stand at ground zero??
Homosexuals have the right to a private life,just keep it private.Quit trying to convince me that it's Normal and flaunting your lifestyle in public.
Quit looking for it and joining conversations like this if bothers you. Your voyeurism is not NORMAL
Oh, thanks smellbum. Now you think it's OK. After SCOTUS made a Lawrence v TX (2003) decision which gave gays right to private life (invalidated anti-sodomy laws). I bet, you would not let them have private life before that.
No culture in human history (millions of them) ever recognized homosexual unions as marriages; nor will the American culture, despite what activist judges and a handful of befuddled people decide. To raise a family, even in anti-child America, means to procreate and raise children, something that homosexuals cannot and should not do, respectively.
No previous culture in human history came up with the internet, either, but that doesn't make it immoral.
Yes they have. Just do a quick google and you will find plenty of examples of gay marriage throughout ancient history.
Spirit of America, what jo jo juice or mushrooms have you been taking? What is possible , what is and has happened ( I know children from the 50s raised in gay households) and what should be , are very different things. You post is irrational.
uh, spirit - the ability to reproduce is not a restraint of sexual orientation. I'm sorry for your lack of intelligence
MSNBC NEVER comments or AIDS or gay bowel disease. It messes up the agenda to make everyone sympathetic to the immorality and sin of homosexuality.
Waah waah, you're afraid you're gonna lose, waah waah
Since those are not exclusive to the gay community i guess the sin and immorality is shared by heterosexuals
If the SCOTUS approves gay marriage then it will have to eventually approve polygamy. After all it's about their love for each other and not what may be good for society.
Polygamists probably want SCOTUS to approve their arrangements, but they've got some work ahead of them to convince society that it's a good idea, the way gay rights advocates have. If you have some theory as to why polygamy should be allowed, you should get in touch with them.
One has nothing to do with the other and i doubt there are enough polygamists around to form a petition. Your "argument" is asinine...i mean moot.
No surprise that your side used the same arguments against mixed-race marriage.
Everybody deserves to get married. Two men getting married, who are likely to be complete strangers to you, will not hurt your marriage or your family. The only harm that can come to your family through this is exposing your children to your hatred and fear of gay people; when really, gay people are the nicest most accepting and warm people on the planet.
People that actually understand and know what homosexuality is and means, who aren't ignorant of the subject, always ends up supporting it. Because they realize that there simply is NOTHING harmful, bad or sinful about it. There is NOTHING to base their arguments off of.
Love always prevails people. Haven't you watched your Disney fantasy movies?
Mickey-1983943
There are other ways for gay men to have sex than anal intercourse, you know.
They are still peanut butter packers!!!!!!!!!111
I can't wait until gay marriages start hitting the divorce courts. Someone is going to wish they'd never heard of gay marriages. Should be interesting.
they've already "hit the divorce courts". They tend to be messier, for the time being, in many cases due to the variety of state laws, unfortunately.
21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
Wrote that all by yourself, did ya?
nothing like a dose of buy-bull bulls hit, eh? Good for the sole...
I think you left out the death penalty for eating shellfish, defying the sabbath and cursing your parents.