It doesn't matter how you feel about it, whether you think it's ok, whether the thought of it repulses you, whether your god tells you it's ok or not, whether you think your kids will be negatively or positively affected by it. As United States Citizens, we don't have a choice on whether to accept or tolerate it or not. This is not about your choice or your vote, it's simply about the Constitution. The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution states the following;
Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.That's right, all citizens have the right to equal protection, it doesn't say all straight citizens and it doesn't say all gay citizens, it simply says all persons born or naturalized in the United States, in other words all citizens. Now some people might argue that marriage is a church ritual that should not change to accommodate what they view as a sin, well the minute that marriage was given all the federal and state benefits that it now holds, was the minute it stopped being an exclusive right of the church.
Once rights are given to even just 1 person, those rights must be given to the other citizens as well, equal protection of the laws. If the government wants to restrict the rights of a certain group of citizens, or even 1 single citizen for that matter, then the only fair thing to do is to restrict the rights of all citizens that are currently enjoying the benefit of said law. In other words, take away all the federal and state benefits and protections currently afforded under the law regarding marriage and make it only a church ritual, only then can they call it their own.
(crossposted on GU:- D
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7432312)
JohnD @ the bigotbasher
http://thebigotbasher.wordpress.com/2009/07/29/its-all-quite-simple-really/