Outspoken for Equality Rally at Bidwell - Today @ 3pm

someday people will look back on this issue and wonder what the hysteria was all about, just like we wonder why it took from 1776 to 1920 for american women to get the vote. back then hysterical opponents warned that women voting would destroy marriage and the family. judging by voter turnout, marriage and family are more popular than voting. good luck, glbt people!

how about getting something like this on the site BEFORE the day it happens, so that people can actually plan on attending.

grad94: That's an interesting thing to site, since the traditional family unit has been in retreat since that time.

I am simply saying it was an odd example to cite; in this example decline is the appropriate word, meaning less, not worse. Gay marriage may well be a move back toward the nuclear family rather then away. Recreating stable family units to the benefit of the state. I have not really looked into the topic at any depth.

God damn democracy always has a way of representing the will of the populace and not the vocal minority.

So 35 GLBT activists had a protest to cry that things didn't go their way. Wah! What is the big deal anyway? This has few similarities to equal rights for women and minorities. You don't have a choice of who knows that you are a minority but you do have a choice about how you handle your sexuality. Show a little restraint and self-control and people might take you seriously.

Really Jimmy? And, how does one "handle" his/her sexuality? Should one keep their feelings for a member of the same sex under wraps, so as to not offend your (seemingly fragile) sensitivities.

Did you struggle with being gay at an early age and "man up" and force yourself straight? Is that why you are an expert on how the rest should behave? Moreover, do you really think there is a choice involved here? That people would willingly "choose" a lifestyle that involves such external and internal (negative) pressures? I think not.

It's pretty simple about why this is a civil rights issue, and you might want to listen to the numerous minority Senators (Black, women) who spoke to that effect last week.

KarlMonroe/Jimmy: it's pretty simple. Don't like gay marriage? Then DON"T GET ONE.

karl, go back and read john stuart mill on the tyranny of the majority. in america, civil rights are not subject to popular referendum, or schools would still be legally segregated.

jimmy, equal protection under the law is not revocable just because someone thinks your personal conduct lacks sufficient decorum, or we'd have to revoke the civil rights of everyone who gets trashed and acts out at bills games.

agreed that the situation of glbt people is not exactly like the situation of african americans or women, but the arguments used against them are the same.

opposite sex couples practice and enjoy all the same acts that any same sex couple can come up with in bed, including more kinds of fetishes than i care to know about, and they're still entitled to get legally married. they can even book the holiday inn on grand island for swingers weekends and still keep their marriage licenses.

now matter how heinous a crime you are convicted of, if you are heterosexual you can still get married. there is no law stopping someone from being stupid enough to marry a serial killer with 10 consecutive life sentences.

but no matter how law-abiding you are, no matter how sterling a pillar of the community, no matter how respected and admired, if you are homosexual, you cannot get married.

this is just wrong and it is why i back the glbt community 100% even though i don't belong to it.

typical. whenever someone talks about two adults who want to make a legally binding commitment to love, honor, and obey, someone else always has to bring in animals. the model and precedent for gay marriage is straight marriage. equal marriage does not change the legal standing or lack thereof of animals.

nothing about allowing two adults to marry opens the door to legally sanctioned bestiality. that's as stupid as arguing that if two men can buy and own property together, then a man and a horse can buy and own property together, or if two women can give each other power of attorney, then a woman and a horse can give each other power of attorney. but since you're so convinced it is a plausible threat, go ahead and try it and get back to us.