Changing the constitution won't change the right's that gays want.?
101464
Ther is no need to ratify the constution for any one particular group's wishes. There are alredy anti-discrimination laws in our country. If someone is unhappy with a law, they should work within the system to change that law. Change cannot be forced and can only come from within. What needs to change is our perception that any group of people should have more or less rights than any other group.
969564
The Founding Fathers built checks and balances into our system of government,but the constitution was based on the Bible. Diversity is a correlative, but not a cause.
302363
What Ipersonally believe is, we were raised in a country where stuff like that should not happen. Also what part of the nation,many years ago a gay person would of been killed. thats why gays stayed in the closets.  now, the gays tend to get more noticed and more rights are for them and us straight folk just don't get it. please whomever is reading this dont report me AGAIN because since I do live in america I do have the right to speak what is on my mind , just like everybody else in U S A has the right to do.
223697
Yes it does.  Some people refuse to open their minds to any lifestyle that does not fit their own.  Look at all the states that added anti gay marriage legislation to their state constitutions.   People should live and let live.
356143
I think that the proposal of the constitutional amendment a while back that would have banned gay marriage is a disgrace to our political system.  There are currently 27 amendments.  Not one TAKES AWAY a right.\n\nIf any given Church wants to refuse to marry same-sex couples they have every right to do so.  They also have the right to refuse to marry people based on religion, race, height, weight and the color of their shirts.  Churches are allowed to discriminate all they want.  They're effectively like private clubs in that regard (I know that many Churches are welcoming of everyone, but they're not legally required to be).\n\nThe government, however, is NOT allowed to discriminate against certain groups.  There is no reason why same-sex couples should not be allowed ot be legally married.  I think we should give same-sex  couples and their children the same rights as everyone else.  Legalizing same-sex marriage wouldn't hurt anyone, but banning it sure would.\n\n__________\njonny: Really?  Which amendment would that be?\n\njdfnv: The legal intitution of marriage has nothing to do with religion.  It may go against the Christian Church (although the issue of homosexuality in the bible is not nearly as simple as people make it out to be) to marry gay couples, and they won't have to.  However, it does NOT go against the principles of the GOVERNMENT.  Last I checked, being married in a courthouse by a justice of the peace had NOTHING to do with the Christian Church.  Furthermore, not all Americans are Christian.  If you're not Christian, you shouldn't be bound by the moral principles of the bible (or misinterpretations of said moral principles).  That's the first amendment.  If your religion recognizes same-sex marriages then in order to protect your first amendment right to freedom of religion the government MUST recognize those marriages as equal to the marriages sanctioned by the Christian Church.  The Bible has no legal standing in the United States of America.
75489
Personally, no. But I'm sure the millions of gays and lesbians who don't have the same rights (inheritance, medical, property) as straight couples do would beg to differ.
1131282
I wish I had a nickle for every time I've answered this question in the last few months.\n\nFor it.\n\nI'm not fond of the idea of gay marriage.  I won't marry my boyfriend even when the government recognizes gay marriages.\nI just don't need a piece of paper or a ceremony to validate my love.\n\nI do, however, believe that Equal rights means equal rights.  Gay people are getting married.  In christian churches and other religious venues all across the land.  One state already recognizes gay marriages.  A few others are attempting to equalize the situation by granting equal rights under a different name.\n\nWhen a group of people decide that because of THEIR beliefs and opinions, another group of people can't have the same rights and protections as they do, I have a problem with it.\n\nDiscrimination is wrong no matter what reason you want to give for it.  Equal rights isn't something gay people made up to annoy straight people.  Equal rights was thought of by the founding fathers of our great nation because far too often, when people obtain power and influence, they use it to supress other people.  Our founding fathers, understanding human nature, took steps to make sure that doesn't happen here.\n\nI don't want to marry my boyfriend.  I want the right to do it, and have the same protections straight people have when they do it.\nThere is no reason the government should set aside the intent of our founding fathers just because SOME people don't like us.
802133
You know I am a democrat and I have to agree that probably nothing will change.  It is so new to say you are a democrat and then do republican things so really nothing will change.  Not until the big election.  We are so worried that our democrats are gay that we are electing people who are so right wing that they might as well call themselves republicans!!  GO ORGANIZED RELIGION!  LETS HAVE SOME WAR!
330580
GOOD BYE "LAUNCH".  I believe that same sex marriages should be outlawed by the Supreme Court.  And since Conservatives now have a majority on the bench I believe it will happen.
667257
George W. is an idiot!!  He is trying to set the pace for the next election!!  Someday soon the world will realize that Gay people do have rights and are a major part of society.
216518
Gay people do not have fewer rights than straight people.  There are no laws that say gay people cannot do something that a straight person can do.  There are laws that say a man can marry a woman, and any gay person can do those things.  There are laws that say that any married person can have certain privileges and any gay person can choose to marry just like any straight person can choose to marry.  I'm not going to get into whether people are gay by choice, but they have the same legal opportunities as everyone else.  There are no fountains for gay people, no rules that say gay people cannot sit at the lunch counter.  Gay people are allowed to vote.  They can own property.  They can attend public schools.  The only thing they can't do is join the military and say they are gay.  Of course, neither can a straight person.
1114971
Wow Marcell, You have really demonstrated what is wrong with conservatives. So I assume you mean that giving gays like myself the right to marry is a "special right" because we didnt have that right before. Wow. I think its likely you would be quoting mythology in all your arguments. My firmly held belief is that you cannot explain things rationally to people who believe in an invisible man in the sky who sees everything they do and is waiting to smite them if they step out of line. Its just nonsense, and the sooner more people reject this mythological hysteria about virgin babies and magic boats that hold millions of animals and prophets falling from the sky, the sooner people will adopt reason in its place. But whether or not people are willing to question their dogma, I'm still going to fight for a womans right to choose, for full rights and inclusion for gays, etc. I'm not going to let someones silly mythologies and superstitions stop me...
772719
It depends on exactly what you're asking here. Will you have the right to wed openly and have your spouse guaranteed the same benefits as a partner in a heterosexual marriage? If that's your question, I would say probably not. The Christian right still has its claws on the balls of government. Separation of church and state is a convenient illusion. G.W. is an evangelical Christian. He opposes everything about gays, including their right to love whomever they want. As far as you have come in assuring that you will be treated equally in America, you have that far to travel yet again. Good luck.
1123755
I'm not a liberal but I am against the gay marriage amendment.  I think Bush has to start pandering to the whole country rather than the Ann Coulters of the world.
858335
I don't know what you mean by legalizing gay rights. I think most thinking people want all Americans to have the same rights, period.  Heres a list (not at all comprehensive) of rights that married people have. Gay people cannot get married, and therefore do not have these rights. \n-Filing joint income tax\n-Creating a "family partnership" under federal tax laws, which allows you to split business profits among family members.\n-Exemptions from gift and estate taxes for spousal property.\n-QTIP,QDOT, and marital deduction trusts.\n-Obtaining priority if a conservator needs to be appointed for your spouse. \n-Inheriting a share of your spouse's estate.\n-Receiving social security, medicare, and disability benefits for spouses.\n-Receiving veterans and military benefits for spouses, including those for education and medical insurance.\n-Taking family leave during a spouse's illness.\n-Receiving wages and workers compensation for a deceased spouse.\n-Visiting your spouse in a hospital intensive care unit during restricted visiting hours.\n-Making medical decisions for an incapacitated spouse.\n-Making burial arrangements.\n-Applying for joint adoption, joint foster care, or stepparent adoption.\n-Joint division of property upon divorce.\n-Custody rights, child support.\n-Living in neighborhoods zoned for "families only."\n-Receiving family rates for insurance.\n-Sueing a third person for wrongful death.\n-Claiming the marital communications privilege.\n-Receiving crime-victims recovery benefits.\n\nTrust me...the list goes on.
349054
No.  I am a heterosexual in favor of equal rights for gays and lesbians.  The fact is that the Christian Right enjoys favor in Washington right now, but if we really were as we claim a nation that separates Church and State, gays would be allowed every privelege heteros have, including marriage.  There are plenty of liberal churches who marry gays-- why aren't their theologies driving public policy and law? \n  It is insecurity and ignorance that keep people from allowing gays equal rights... but the times they are a'changin'...
1036033
I can't believe you even have to ask this question, because the obvious answer is YES.  \n\nGood reasons why:\n-They are people too, who have the same right as we do to marry whoever they choose\n-In the constitution it clearly states "all men are created equal."  \n-There is suppossed to be a seperation of state and church here, and if gay marriage is kept illegal, that boundary is clearly being crossed in favor of religion\n-Gays and lesbians should have the same rights that marriage provides for everyone else, such as insurance plans, visitation rights, etc.\n-Not everybody is this country is christian, so why should everybody be forced to follow its principles?\n-Love makes a marriage, not oppossite genders.  You can't possibly say that gay marriage would undermine the "traditional family" because it's already being ruined by the 50% divorce rate in this country.  \n-Someday we will look back on all this stupidity with the same disbelief we have today that blacks, not too long ago, did not have equal rights.  Isn't this the same thing?  Do we enjoy being a bunch of biggots?\n\nThere, are those good enough reasons for you...I should think so.