Sweden - Gay Marriage Now Legal In.....

[southcitymom]

Mass becomes first state to sue federal government over definition of marriage:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090708/ap_on_re_us/us_gay_marriage

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Saskatchewan hires outside lawyers to argue for gay marriage exemptions

It appears the Saskatchewan government has been unable to find lawyers within their own justice department to argue in support of legislation that would allow marriage commissioners to refuse to marry same-sex couples for religious reasons.

[snip]

Robertson said the Supreme Court of Canada has established that same-sex marriage is a constitutional right.

http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=99469472751&h=NoPG-&u=xFx5S&ref=nf


And in other news...

San Francisco Zoo's gay penguins split up
San Francisco Zoo's famous gay penguin couple Harry and Pepper have split up, after a six-year relationship.

All was well in the penguin couple's relationship until another male penguin's death caused his widow, Linda, to seek out Harry's company.

"To be completely anthropomorphizing, Linda seems conniving," said Brown. "She's got her plan. I don't think she was wanting to be a single girl for too long."

http://www.gaynz.com/articles/publish/3/article_7694.php

 

[Nova]

..."To be completely anthropomorphizing, Linda seems conniving," said Brown. "She's got her plan. I don't think she was wanting to be a single girl for too long."

http://www.gaynz.com/articles/publish/3/article_7694.php

Why do folks always assume it's the woman's fault? :furious:

 

[southcitymom]

Penguins are bi! Who knew?

 

[yosande]

[my bold]

That's beyond my comprehension re firing someone because of lifestyle preference.

:thumb: to Iowa.

A lifestyle preference?
Should one be fired b/c their preference is to have sex with a minor? It is their preference after all.
What about if they choose more than one lover?
an animal?
Serial Killing is a lifestyle preference. So is stealing, and conning folks.

It is my opinion that people who are homosexual are obsessed with sex, and little else is on their their mind, except proclaiming their victimhood.
Their agenda is to make what is wrong, right. That is never going to happen, no matter what laws they manage to change.
Woe to him who says right is wrong and wrong is right.
So says the wise King Solomon in the book of proverbs.
MOO

 

[southcitymom]

A lifestyle preference?
Should one be fired b/c their preference is to have sex with a minor? It is their preference after all.
What about if they choose more than one lover?
an animal?
Serial Killing is a lifestyle preference. So is stealing, and conning folks.

It is my opinion that people who are homosexual are obsessed with sex, and little else is on their their mind, except proclaiming their victimhood.
Their agenda is to make what is wrong, right. That is never going to happen, no matter what laws they manage to change.
Woe to him who says right is wrong and wrong is right.
So says the wise King Solomon in the book of proverbs.
MOO

Yosande,

With all due respect, it is true that some homosexuals are obsessed with sex. It is equally true that some heterosexuals are obsessed with sex. I could even make an argument that all humans are obsessed with sex and that every last one of us has an agenda, but that's probably a thought for another thread.

Pedophelia, bestiality, murder, stealing and conning are morally wrong because they always cause harm to sentient beings who are unwilling and unable to make a choice to consent to what is being done to them. The same cannot be said of what consenting adults chose to do with each other and their own bodies, and so these comparisons don't hold water. Homosexuality is uncommon, to be sure, but it is not immoral.

Do you know many homosexuals? I simply ask because your experience seems so very different from mine. From my view, humans who are emotionally, spiritually and physically attracted to humans of the same sex have the same dreams, desires, attributes and defects as humans who are attracted to the opposite sex.

I admit that I have a hard time with whatever spin factory decided to deem a human being's most intimate and personal relationship a "lifestyle choice." If you believe that homosexuals choose their sexual orientation, why do you think that is? I mean, do you think homosexual sex is just a lot more exciting than heterosexual sex and so that's what draws a person?

I will agree that, because human sexuality is a spectrum, there is an element of choice for some people - more evident in those who identify strongly with bisexuality. But some of us fall on the ends of the spectrum and so identify more fully with homo or hetero. I don't ever recall choosing to be heterosexual - it's just where I naturally landed. The same is true of most, though not all, other heteros and homos who I know.

May I also ask - in light or your right/wrong thoughts - what you think of homosexuality in nature (ie - the penguins that have made this thread, et al...)?

 

[Nova]

To SCM's excellent post, I would just like to add this question: why is my "lifestyle" defined by my partner's gender?

Mr. Nova and I are college-educated, white-collar workers who live in an unexceptional house, the value of which is more or less the median for our area. Along with his ex-wife, we've raised two children whom we love dearly; we now quite happily dote on our three grandchildren. We are each close to our only siblings, our sisters.

We like popular music, though like most middle-aged people, we tend to favor singers from when we were young adults. We read a wide range of fiction, from the classics to current, popular novels. We buy our clothes off the rack, on sale when possible. We watch too much reality TV.

I'm a rabid college football fan; Mr. Nova finds sports boring. I've been posting here for more than a decade and consider a number of WSers to be personal friends; Mr. Nova has no idea why. Mr. Nova is content to work outside during the worst desert heat; I wilt.

Our political views are left of center, but hardly "radical" except to a few posters in the PP. Like many if not most Americans, we hold a variety of religious beliefs, the mix of which isn't prescribed by any one denomination.

Our recreational travel consists almost entirely of visiting our relatives in the Midwest and New England. Did I mention our three brilliant and gorgeous grandchildren?

We certainly think sex has its place and that consenting adults should be allowed to do what they want. Monogamy has worked for us for more than 30 years, but we don't think that means everyone's relationship has to be the same.

All of this constitutes our "lifestyle" and most of it is a matter of choice.

Our genitalia are not. We were born with those.

 

[southcitymom]

Not a legal decision, exactly, but I thought this was cute and belonged on this thread:

http://www.accessatlanta.com/celebrities-tv/tv-139758.html?cxntlid=thbz_hm

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Awwww. How cute! That is very cool that they made that change. I just hope some crazies don't get any petitions going before it airs to keep it off tv. I'm glad that this couple will have this opportunity!!!

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

House considers DOMA repeal

A group of Congressmembers introduced a bill this week in the U.S. House that seeks to repeal the federal ban on same-sex marriage.

U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) introduced the Respect for Marriage Act in the U.S. House Sept. 15 along with 91 cosponsors, including openly gay lead sponsors Reps. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.) and Jared Polis (D-Colo.), making this the first time legislation has been introduced to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act since its 1996 passage.

[snip]

DOMA, signed into law by then-president Bill Clinton, prohibits the federal government from bestowing some 1,100 federal marriage rights to same-sex couples, even those who have wed in states where such unions are legal, and also allows states that don’t offer same-sex marriage to refuse to recognize legal marriages of such couples.

Nadler noted that when DOMA was passed, same-sex marriage was not legal anywhere in the country, but it has since been approved by six states.

MUCH more at link: http://epgn.com/pages/full_story/pu...+considers+DOMA+repeal&instance=2nd_top_story

And more from the Human Rights Campaign here: http://www.hrc.org/13533.htm

 

[r0tflcopter]

A lifestyle preference?

It is my opinion that people who are homosexual are obsessed with sex, and little else is on their their mind, except proclaiming their victimhood.
Their agenda is to make what is wrong, right. That is never going to happen, no matter what laws they manage to change.
Woe to him who says right is wrong and wrong is right.
So says the wise King Solomon in the book of proverbs.
MOO

and heterosexuals aren't obsessed with sex?
have you ever actually met someone who is gay? did they immediately jump your bones because of their overwhelming need for sex?

 

[2goldfish]

A lifestyle preference?
Should one be fired b/c their preference is to have sex with a minor? It is their preference after all.
What about if they choose more than one lover?
an animal?
Serial Killing is a lifestyle preference. So is stealing, and conning folks.

It is my opinion that people who are homosexual are obsessed with sex, and little else is on their their mind, except proclaiming their victimhood.
Their agenda is to make what is wrong, right. That is never going to happen, no matter what laws they manage to change.
Woe to him who says right is wrong and wrong is right.
So says the wise King Solomon in the book of proverbs.
MOO

:banghead:

 

[Nova]

and heterosexuals aren't obsessed with sex?
have you ever actually met someone who is gay? did they immediately jump your bones because of their overwhelming need for sex?

I couldn't help an ironic chuckle at yosande's invocation of Solomon, for as Bible readers know, Solomon's father, David, loved Jonathan with a love that "surpasses the love of a man for a woman." (2 Sam. 1.26)

Not that that makes David or Jonathan gay in our terms, of course, but their contemporaries would have assumed (and remained unsurprised by) an erotic component to the friendship.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

On a side note....happy National Coming Out Day!!!!!!!!! :blowkiss: I'm a straight ally, but "come out" in support of the LGBT community! I hope others will do the same.


Polls show close battles in Maine, Washington state

In Maine, a poll published Sept. 16 shows a dead heat over the proposed “people’s veto” on a recently enacted law legalizing same-sex marriage.

AND

A poll with similar data has emerged in Washington state, where a recent expansion of the state’s domestic partner registry will come before voters. The measure, known as Referendum 71, puts to the electorate a law that made Washington’s domestic partner registry the legal equivalent of marriage.

http://www.washblade.com/2009/10-2/news/national/15261.cfm


For more on Washington's Ref. 71: http://approvereferendum71.org/

 

[Nova]

Let's don't lose hope for California yet. Yesterday, our governor signed bills so that the state now recognizes those gay marriage performed out of state during the months gay marriage was legal here. AND it recognizes all other gay marriages performed elsewhere, but treats them as domestic partnerships, which under California law, are to have the same effect as legal marriage. (Schwartzenegger also signed a bill commemorating Harvey Milk day.)

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Great news about California, Nova. Thanks for sharing!

And some more great news.


Hate crimes bill goes to Obama for signature

The Senate passed groundbreaking legislation Thursday that would make it a federal crime to assault an individual because of his or her sexual orientation or gender identity.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/10/22/hate.crimes/index.html

 

[Nova]

Great news about California, Nova. Thanks for sharing!

And some more great news.


Hate crimes bill goes to Obama for signature

The Senate passed groundbreaking legislation Thursday that would make it a federal crime to assault an individual because of his or her sexual orientation or gender identity.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/10/22/hate.crimes/index.html

Wow! I wasn't sure I'd see such a bill reach a president in my lifetime.

 

[southcitymom]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/storie...IAGE?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Stakes are high in Maine's vote on gay marriage
By DAVID SHARP and DAVID CRARY
Associated Press Writers

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) -- Bolstered by out-of-state money and volunteers, both sides jockeyed Monday to boost turnout for a Maine referendum that could give gay-rights activists in the U.S. their first victory at the ballot box on the deeply divisive issue of same-sex marriage.

(full story at link)

 

[MeoW333]

I couldn't help an ironic chuckle at yosande's invocation of Solomon, for as Bible readers know, Solomon's father, David, loved Jonathan with a love that "surpasses the love of a man for a woman." (2 Sam. 1.26)

Not that that makes David or Jonathan gay in our terms, of course, but their contemporaries would have assumed (and remained unsurprised by) an erotic component to the friendship.

I would take it to mean that they were gay.. some religion has been twisted and modified to meet personal agendas nowadays.

 

[Elphaba]

I'm sitting here trying to figure out how sexual preference goes hand-in-hand with being obsessed with sex. Sexual obsession, IMO, is about the act of satisfying a desire, outside of preference.

My daughter is attracted to the same sex and rest assured she has nothing in her life that would put her in a place to claim victimhood. I can't say if she is sexually obsessed or not, but I do know that she does not like girls that are all touchy feely. Heck, she's a homebody that even hasn't had a girlfriend in a while.

Categorizing a group of people without really understanding them, is unfair, IMO.