I don't mind people being gay its when they are blatantly overpowering gay that bugs me. The same if 2 hetero's are on a blanket in the park almost screwing. Keep that shit in the bedroom Geez!
I completely agree with you Maggot. There is a caveat though, and it was the reaction of the gay community after repeated harassment and raids of gay clubs, which resulted in the StoneWall riots. That was the birth of Gay Pride. It happened to be the Drag Queens that stood up to the cops while the gays dressed in business suits ran and hid. I think that lesson of how to act "Out" and its shock value was necessary for change. It was saying they won't hide 'in the closet' any more. This 'in your face' behavior was good early on (like unions were). But like unions that power can be abused too.
(05-24-2015, 01:48 PM)ZEROSPHERES Wrote: [ -> ] (04-29-2015, 01:49 PM)aussiefriend Wrote: [ -> ]Gay Marriage Zero, not Fail Marriage.
Aussie, You know I am only kidding.
(05-24-2015, 11:39 AM)HairOfTheDog Wrote: [ -> ]Gay Equality in Ireland
Yesterday the people of Ireland voted in favor of marriage equality and legalized same-sex marriage across the country.
![[Image: Ireland_Gay_Marriage-053c1.jpg]](https://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_606w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2015/05/23/Foreign/Images/Ireland_Gay_Marriage-053c1.jpg)
This is great news. When I was a teen my gay sibling took such grief from our parents and his classmates that he attempted suicide. He went through electroshock in attempts to accommodate our parents and society's expectations at 16 years old. When it proved to be unsuccessful our parents kicked him out of the house and told him to never return. I remember clearly the hateful words used to belittle him in pejorative tones. I never thought the world could change so much in 50 years.
That is so sad! We have come a long way re equal rights for all....but we still have plenty of haters, so the fight continues. I do hope your sibling has since been accepted by the family and has found some inner peace in being who he/she was meant to be. I have talked before about the young man who killed himself because he was gay back in the 80's (he was in my caseload).
(05-24-2015, 05:33 PM)blueberryhill Wrote: [ -> ]That is so sad! We have come a long way re equal rights for all....but we still have plenty of haters, so the fight continues. I do hope your sibling has since been accepted by the family and has found some inner peace in being who he/she was meant to be. I have talked before about the young man who killed himself because he was gay back in the 80's (he was in my caseload).
BBH, Wish I could say things worked out, but they didn't. Our parents were post WW1 babies born in rural America. They both could not deal with my brother, thinking that his being gay required blame to be placed on someone. This caused them to argue and divorce after dad was snared by a woman who promised him "the son he never had". Each still wanted to blame someone so they continued to blame my brother. I guess it made them feel better and resulted in him really being hurt because he couldn't change a reality no matter how hard he tried.
Zero I just thought I would take this opportunity to say I know you are only kidding. You are a fun person. You are not a hateful gal so it's all good.
With me, I have been flat out busy and have all sorts of things going on in my life at the moment. That production was felt like a gig the next day I was spent. I couldn't do anything. So forgive me and all Mockers for not being as active as normal, when I am finished all my stuff, I will be back and you will be sick of me. As usual.
Why is Australia So Far Behind the Times in Terms of Same Sex Marriage?
I asked myself that question when Ireland legalized it last week and that question is actually a headline on CNN today. Interesting read.
Snip:
More than 20 countries have now legalized same-sex marriage. Ireland's recent constitutional referendum vote in favor makes Australia look particularly backward in comparison with most other developed, English-speaking countries. Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom -- though excluding Northern Ireland -- have also introduced same-sex marriage.
The majority of American states now have same-sex marriage. The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to hand down a decision this year that may confirm whether same-sex marriage is constitutionally protected.
So, as Opposition Leader Bill Shorten introduces an amendment to the Marriage Act to legalize same-sex marriage, why has Australia lagged so far behind?
The question seems all the more perplexing because the Australian federal parliament has the power to introduce same-sex marriage. That means implementing same-sex marriage is a relatively simple matter in Australia -- unlike in the U.S., for example, where there were separate struggles to introduce it in multiple states.
Similarly, there is no marriage clause in the Australian Constitution that requires changing -- unlike in Ireland.
The answer to why Australia hasn't already introduced same-sex marriage partly lies in the way in which the issue has been exploited in Australian electoral politics.
Story:
http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/01/opinions/a...-marriage/
Here is a list of countries where same-sex marriage is legal nationwide and the year it was approved (Mexico and the United States are not included, since they currently only allow same-sex marriage in certain jurisdictions):
The Netherlands (2000)
Belgium (2003)
Canada (2005)
Spain (2005)
South Africa (2006)
Norway (2009)
Sweden (2009)
Argentina (2010)
Iceland (2010)
Portugal (2010)
Denmark (2012)
Brazil (2013)
England and Wales (2013)
France (2013)
New Zealand (2013)
Uruguay (2013)
Luxembourg (2014)
Scotland (2014)
Ireland (2015)
Finland: (signed 2015, effective 2017)
It's never been legalised here before because we are a two political party nation, and it's never been in either of their best interests to push the barrow on the issue. The Liberals would never have offended their conservative loyal stalwarts in the past by even broaching the subject and there was no way the macho blue collar labor die hards were ever going to support a horse's hoof!
We had an openly gay senator for a number of years. He was ridiculed almost to the point of slander, openly, by the press and some of his colleagues. Julia Gillard was an odd one; she renounced religion and wouldn't even swear into office on a bible, was shacked up with s dude of questionable sexual orientation and still refused to give a stance on the issue and swept it to the side.
Only recently, with the more open thinking of the last couple of generations has the tide turned somewhat and people are happy to openly support sane sex marriages. The political parties have picked up on this and are starting to see the mileage in it so watch this space.
Thanks for that insight, crash.
Sounds pretty similar to the situation here about 8 years ago.
It's been amazing to watch the incredible shift in tide and legalization across the majority of states in the U.S., in less than a decade.
From the CNN piece, it sounds like Australia is poised to have an easier logistical go of legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide once the politicians there figure they'll lose too many votes unless they do.
I'm not sure if it will even come down to votes, but maybe it will. We are due for an election next year, but it might surprise the shit out of everyone and gather enough legs to go to a referendum before it even gets a chance to become an election issue.
The government should not be involved in marriages to start out with anyways, just have a contract notarized and be done with it.
North Carolina May Soon Let Clerks Refuse Marriage Licenses to Gay and Interracial Couples
North Carolina’s new bill is radical. This law will expand a civil servants’ right to inflict discrimination on others with the full endorsement of the government. The North Carolina bill declares that protecting a civil servants’ right to discriminate on the job is more important than anything else. All a magistrate need do under the bill is declare that she holds a religious objection to issuing a marriage license to a certain couple, and she can legally turn them away.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2015/...y_and.html
(06-03-2015, 12:59 AM)ZEROSPHERES Wrote: [ -> ]North Carolina May Soon Let Clerks Refuse Marriage Licenses to Gay and Interracial Couples
North Carolina’s new bill is radical. This law will expand a civil servants’ right to inflict discrimination on others with the full endorsement of the government. The North Carolina bill declares that protecting a civil servants’ right to discriminate on the job is more important than anything else. All a magistrate need do under the bill is declare that she holds a religious objection to issuing a marriage license to a certain couple, and she can legally turn them away.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2015/...y_and.html
That is pure bullshit. Now North Carolina can be added to the list of backward states..
(06-01-2015, 01:06 PM)Maggot Wrote: [ -> ]The government should not be involved in marriages to start out with anyways, just have a contract notarized and be done with it.
It really feels like an argument of semantics sometimes. Surprising the government is even willing to step in the middle between the two interest groups. If it were me, I'd do exactly that. All religious unions are considered civil unions, allow civil unions for same sex couples.
(06-03-2015, 05:06 AM)Cutz Wrote: [ -> ] (06-01-2015, 01:06 PM)Maggot Wrote: [ -> ]The government should not be involved in marriages to start out with anyways, just have a contract notarized and be done with it.
It really feels like an argument of semantics sometimes. Surprising the government is even willing to step in the middle between the two interest groups. If it were me, I'd do exactly that. All religious unions are considered civil unions, allow civil unions for same sex couples.
It's simpler than bowing to the political correctness indoctrination going on today.
I do love the argument that same-sex marriage violates the sanctity of marriage for religious people. So gay people can't have funerals because it violates the sanctity of a Catholic funeral or a Jewish family sitting Shiva? Nobody's gonna force churches to open their doors to gay marriage, just let them go say vows on a beach somewhere.
I think its more of gays wanting to be accepted as normal people. They want to be accepted by the church and anyone else that they want. If it takes getting the government involved so be it but like the saying goes, you can lead a horse to water......but you can't make him wear a bikini.
The church can discriminate as they see fit; they're exempt from any anti-discrimination laws. They discriminate against a lot of people.
But, government employees who refuse to perform their tasks for certain people and think that their religious or personal convictions are more important than fulfilling the job requirements in accordance with the law should find a different line of work, IMO.
It wouldn't matter in the North Carolina case whether you called the contract a civil union or a marriage. The proposed NC law would allow those whose job it is to issue the license to refuse because they object to gay unions.
(06-04-2015, 01:22 PM)Maggot Wrote: [ -> ]I think its more of gays wanting to be accepted as normal people.
They ARE normal!
(06-04-2015, 01:31 PM)HairOfTheDog Wrote: [ -> ]But, government employees who refuse to perform their tasks for certain people and think that their religious or personal convictions are more important than fulfilling the job requirements in accordance with the law should find a different line of work, IMO.
It wouldn't matter in the North Carolina case whether you called the contract a civil union or a marriage. The proposed NC law would allow those whose job it is to issue the license to refuse because they object to gay unions.
How far can this protection of a Gov't employees' prejudice be protected. Could they refuse to accept a citizen when he comes in to register to vote or get a license for his dog based on "their" evaluation of his worthiness?