Gay Marriage...Is this really the land of the free?

Answers:
If two committed people want to live together as a family and agree to share their property and assets equally, there's no reason it should not be recognized. Contrary to what conservatives think, gays don't want special treatment and they aren't asking the government to do anything for them. From a practical point of view, marriage is a just a contract like any other. And the law has no right to tell people who they can or cannot choose to sign a contract with. I side with the libertarian view that aside from recording the paperwork, the government should simply stay out of the business of marriage.

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no

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Ever been out of the country to see how they go about it elsewhere? The answer is "Yes!" Duh.

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You're free to do anything that's not against the law...

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Advocates of same-sex marriage try to make it sound as bourgeois as possible, but gay marriage is really the triumph of the most radical ideas of the sexual revolution: that gender doesn't matter, children are secondary, expressing your authentic sexual self is more important than, well, practically anything else. Choosing to gay has consequences. What is Ann Heche choosing these days?

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in order to have a marriage there has to be a man and a woman that is just what a marriage is.
the gays are free to practice their lifestyle here in America so this is really the land of the free.

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You can have all the wedding ceremonies you want. The government is just not going to issue a wedding certificate and change the definition of marriage for all citizens.
You aren't asking for freedom. You're asking the government to do something for you.

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nah...free to cross state borders without papers, and free to pursue happiness, but not free to gay marriage...we also discourage marriage to little kids and animals, etc, etc. You are also not free to rob gas stations either...lol Go get'em penelope...she's sooo good!!

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Compared to other countries, yes we are the land of the free. What does Iran do to their gays?

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Just like blacks and women being able to vote, own land, and have basic equal rights, it will happen for Gays. Just not now. It takes time for a culture to accept something new, and give it a few more years and it will be accepted everywhere. Maybe not as a marriage, but as a civil union with all of the rights of being married.

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All countries have to have rules and laws. If there were no marriage laws, one woman would be able to marry four men, her dog, and a couple of chickens.
One hundred percent free is impossible .,otherwise we would be free to murder, steal, rape, etc.
You have the same rights as I. The law says you can't marry another man - - - - neither can I. You don't have to have a reason, you just can't do it. Sorry.

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helmet.G do they marry goat,s where you live ? DOWN HERE IN THE SOUTH US OLD RED NECK,S ,KINDA LIKE OUR WOMEN TO HAVE ONLY TWO HOOTER,S we are kinda into thing,s of that nature not men married to men or women to women. or mo listing children.

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yes

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Man+woman = a marriage.

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Gay marriage, friend. That's nothing. In Canada, we are so addled by ice that we feel compelled to spend public moneys slated for education to accommodate what I now refer to as The Oppressive Minorities. Get this (from a square construction law website, http://www.bccondos.ca) under B.C. 'BILLY Dillies http://www.bccondos.ca/forums/viewtopic.
... Preparations are underway to overhaul up to 391 single-stall bathroom facilities on (UBC) campus in an effort to meet the access and diversity needs of the school's varied student body. Existing multi-stall men's and women's washrooms will remain. ... Upcoming changes range from the construction of new facilities, to replacing gender-specific signs on doors with gender-neutral ones. (Janet Mee, who, as UBC director of access and diversity, heads up the planned washroom renovations) Mee said no budget has yet been set for the project, and would not comment on possible costs.
Bathroom needs became an issue last year after members of the university's Pride association, representing gays, lesbians, bisexual and transgendered students, raised safety concerns with Mee's department. She said transgendered students have reported feeling harassed or embarrassed when forced to use traditionally segregated bathrooms on campus. The university has now come up with its own gender-neutral design for the one-stall washrooms. Yet to be formally unveiled, the new symbol -- a silhouette of a toilet -- will identify the facility, rather than the people who use it, Mee said..
... For Hesham Alsalman, with UBC's Muslim Student Association, it was the opportunity his group has long waited for. For years, practising muslims at UBC such as Alsalman have gathered in public washrooms at Brock Hall up to five times each day to carefully wash their hands, face and feet in preparation for daily prayers. It's a necessary ritual, symbolizing the cleansing of body and soul prior to prayer, said Alsalman. ... It's not uncommon for water to spill all over the floor -- an inconvenience for everyone using the interfaith facility. ... The university is now considering installing custom-constructed ablution facilities that would allow Muslim students to perform the bathing ritual in a safer, more convenient environment.
"It's a very small and minor requirement," said Alsalman of the proposed facilities, which would be included in both the men's and women's washrooms at Brock Hall used by the 600-plus association members for prayers.
In May, Simon Fraser University in Burnaby became the first university in B.C. to include ablution, or wudu, facilities for Muslim students on its campus. (From the Vancouver Sun Aug. 14/07)
What will be the public cost of this 'fair-minded' initiative, one wonders? There's no doubt a good reason Mee won't discuss it.
Why, one wonders, is there no mention here of the collision between Islam and other organized religions with the rights of women under Canada's Constitution? This is a decision involving the public purse. Should we spend public funds supporting in any way religions that oppress ONE WHOLE GENDER, for goodness sake? What happens when fundamental freedoms clash? Who sets priorities?

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America is truly the land of the Free. History has shown that our approach to government and society is unique and effective. While your question is laced with political correctness and liberal slant, the fact is that even in a free society, any and all individual actions are not acceptable or tolerable. Just as drug use, assault, drunk driving, suicide and animal abuse could be construed to be 'rights' of an individual, looking at the impact to society and others must be addressed. These actions or activities do not strengthen the values and beliefs of a culture, they damage it.
Unions between same-sex partners is not a possitive direction for a society to go, as procreation, child rearing and fundamental replenishment of people are concerned.
Being a homosexual is not part of nature's plan to win, and though some are choosing to travel this path, government should not support that which will inevitably weaken the land as a whole.
BTW, you are still free to be a homosexual, just don't expect other citizen's to condone or pay for your choices.

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It is only the land of the free, if you go along with the popular beliefs. I mean honestly who are we as human beings to tell on person that they can't get married. I mean people are like that make marriage a joke, no - look at the divorce rate of heterosexual couples, they are doing enough of a job making it a joke themselves. I don't understand why people think it's their place to judge what another one wants to do in their love life. So what if Bob wants to marry Joe. I mean really don't we have more important things to worry about. And then there are the people who are like that is a sin and goes against the bible. UM can I ask - WHO GIVES A SH*T! You people who say it is against the bible and blah blah blah, I recommend that you take the bible and shove up your righteous a*s. It is everyones right to seek "LIFE, LIBERTY, %26 the PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS."