Opponents of same-sex ';marriage';: Are you acting out of ill-will, phobia, or concern for families?

At least three views are put forward to explain why majorities consistently vote in referenda to keep marriage between one man and one woman.





1. One charge is that those opposing same-sex ';marriage'; act out of bigotry, which means an unwillingness to allow others the same rights you enjoy. Is this your motive?





2. A second charge is that opponents of same-sex ';marriage'; act out of ';homophobia,'; a mental illiness marked by irrational fear or hatred of homosexuals. Are you mentally ill?





3. A third explanation is that you recognize that redefining marriage to include non-mating relationships negates the whole idea of marriage, and therefore makes it less attractive to mating couples vis-a-vis the easier alternative of cohabitation. Cohabitation is unstable, and the inevitable breakup leaves children of the mating union with a single parent. Is this your concern?Opponents of same-sex ';marriage';: Are you acting out of ill-will, phobia, or concern for families?
I am an opponent of same-sex ';marriage'; for a number of reasons and would like to add one more to your list: It would render the word ';marriage'; as meaningless or at least, totally ambiguous. It could mean whatever anyone wants it to mean.





I thought about your proposed views and here's what I think.





1) Name-calling is not a rational response and I can't imagine that the opponents of same-sex marriage are at all bothered by this bullying technique. I'm not. To have an opposing opinion is not bigotry. It means we have a definition of marriage, the long-accepted one, and it is working just fine.





2) I'm not afraid of unmarried people who engage in sexual activity, whether homosexual, bisexual, or heterosexual. Perhaps they are the ones with fears, since STDs are rampant. I practice safe sex, that is, with only my husband, and he reciprocates. It sure frees the mind from unnecessary worry. I wonder why, though, that homosexuals in particular, desperately want our culture to legitimize their behavior by calling it ';marriage?'; Do they think they are doing something wrong? Could it be they have phobias or obsessions with sex?





3) I think our species figured out, thousands of years ago, in every culture, that it is important to provide safeguards for those willing to enter into the difficult, long-term commitment to reproducing our species. All other experiments have failed. Marriage acknowledges that only one kind of mating relationship produces children. It makes those producing children responsible for their care until they are capable of living as independent adults and provides some incentives to maintain the relationship for the well-being of children.Opponents of same-sex ';marriage';: Are you acting out of ill-will, phobia, or concern for families?
I'm acting out of concern for families.





On the charge of bigotry, that rests on the misconception that homosexuals are denied the right to marry. In fact, homosexuals have the exact same right to marry an eligible mating partner as anyone else. They want a special exemption to marry a non-mating partner.





I know with certainty that I am not mentally ill. I'm less sure about sex addicts who usually have several hundred sexual partners, most of them without so much as exchanging names, as Bell and Weinberg documented in their study, ';Homosexualities.';





The purpose of recognizing marriage is to encourage mating couples (biologically, this means one man and one woman, including infertile man-woman couples who might adopt children) to make their relationship permanent. Marriage has well-documented benefits for the man and woman (including greater wealth, more robust health, even better and more frequent sex), but the most important benefits accrue to children growing up with their real mothers and fathers.





Cheers,


Bruce
My concern is for the families. I don't hate gays and I don't have bigotry. but yes, I do worry about families. How will the kid w/ 2 mommies or 2 daddies feel when he is teased and harassed at school. I just know too many people who have committed suicide and I think this will raise it even more. Not to meantion, sorry, but it doesn't take an idiot to see that they weren't ment to be together.....they don't fit! It messes up god's whole plan and part of the reason that we were even sent here (sorry had to get religious on you :) ) just my view on things I don't want to start anything. I have gay friends we just don't shove our views in each others faces :)
I don't agree with same sex marriage. I believe ';marriage'; is a term to be used for as you put it - mating couples - I'm not against a civil union, giving gay couple all the same rights as a married couple, I just don't want it being called marriage.


I am also not for cohabitation for the very reason you stated. Most people that cohabitate try to delude themselves into thinking what they are doing is just as committed as a marriage, then usually piss and moan if the relationship ends and they have no rights regarding property or children. Or if they don't break up and there is a major medical issue or death and they have no rights regarding their partners. All most people focus on is divorce, but marriage affords a lot more rights than that. As I said A civil union giving gay couples those rights is fine with me, just don't call it marriage.