Why is it such an issue for the gay community to receive equal rights?

Question

Lets take religion out of the picture since that is a freedom we should have in the country to differ on. How will it hurt society if my partner and I of 13 years share insurance, money, health and employment benefits, etc. What is the problem..I just dont get it?

Answer 1

You can take religion out of it, but you can't take morality out of it. That's where the problem lies. A vast number of people believe that homosexual behavior is as deviant and immoral as an adult having sex with a child, or an animal. Therefore they cannot in any way condone it, even if that means not allowing you to share insurance etc, because to do so would damage the societal ethic.

Answer 2

For years there have been homosexuals, until lately they have been happy with the freedom they already have. The government has'nt come breaking down your door to wisk you off to a rock throwing party. In some countries a homosexual would be killed. Be happy with what you have. The law is the law, abide by it. Continue your quest to get noticed as a homosexual if you must. You can share expenses as you see fit, find a job that has everything else you need, such as medical and health care. There are many hedorsexual couples that don't have the ammentities either so get over it and move on. And if you are from a "gay community" invite the others and keep it there, my kids and other people really don't need to be exposed to such behavior, may be you can statr the "gay community" benifit program. And it really would'nt hurt society as a whole, but one day you can thank yourself for having a part in screwing up this society.

Answer 3

It will hurt society because it's basically saying that anyone can get married and share the same benefits. That will make the meaning of marriage null and void, there will be even more divorces than there already are. People will start getting married just to share benefits even if they just live together and are completely straight. More people will get used.
It is not a good idea and gay communities have been living just fine the way they are now.

Answer 4

I wish I knew the answer as to why some people feel so threatened by anything that is different. Ignorance and bigotry are at the root of most of the world's problems. My husband and I have gay friends who are in relationships ten times more committed than some of our heterosexual friends. You cannot take religion out of the picture because even my very educated sister quotes the bible when she talks about homosexuality being wrong. ( Yet she has never been able to tell me the exact passage or verse where it states that.)
If you believe that God created everyone - then you must love and respect people of all races, religions, and lifestyles. I cannot believe the God I believe in made mistakes about 75% of the time since most of the world is not straight, protestant, and Caucasian. There will always be narrow-minded people who cannot think for themselves and will never accept alternative lifestyles. I wish I could give you advice that is more helpful. Just be assured that there are a good number of us "straight" people out there that empathize with your plight.

Answer 5

I don't really know what the problem is .. but i can tell you one thing for sure..

We live in a society that is selfish and unfair...people expect u to live the way they live there life's..
I can't blame all of them most of this people are just ignorant...
allot of them with hate full racist feelings towards the gay community has to do with the way they were raced..
I do hope.. one day all the gay community can have equal rights..
there should be no reason why people with different sexual preference should be seen different from the rest...

Best wishes to you.. and I honestly think that if you are happy with your partner and with your preference i wish you the best and ****! what people say or think..

i truly hope one day u can have the same rights we do......

Answer 6

Society isn't ready yet, but it will be.

Scientists have determined that there is likely a genetic basis for sexual preference. So one may not have any more choice in being gay than in having blue eyes or being left-handed.

Civil unions, at least, are probably going to becomemore popular around the country. Heterosexual couples who are married in a civil ceremony -- say, by a judge or a justice of the peace -- are in a civil union, not necessarily recognized by any religion. In fact, some religions won't recognize a marriage that was formed in another religion, although (at least in the U.S.) the couple is considered legally married.

States that recognize civil unions would give the partners many of the same "rights" that married couples have -- for example, the right to visit in emergency rooms, the right to be included as family on employer-based health insurance policies, the right to "divorce," the right to jointly adopt children, and so on.

In Vermont -- which has recognized same-sex civil unions since 2000 -- the procedures are essentially the same as for heterosexual marriages. The main difference is that couples entering civil uniions must be of the same sex. The union may be certified by judges, justices of the peace, or clergy.

California and Connecticut began to recognize civil unions in 2005. A number of countries also have legalized civil unions.

Some people are opposed to civil unions, saying they are nothing more than "gay marriages," which is essentially true -- but sometimes semantics play an important role in political debates. And keep in mind: Even though gay marriages and civil unions draw much protest from the religious right, it is largely a political debate, and it is largely based on prejudice against people who are outside what is considered "normal" society.

There was a time when African Americans were considered to be outside "normal" society. And it was once illegal for whites and blacks to marry in the United States?

People who oppose civil unions say they are protecting marriage. People who opposed interracial marriages were protecting the white race from dilution by blacks, who were mistakenly and unjustly believed to be inferior. It wasn't until 1967 that the U.S. Supreme Court weighed in, striking down Virginia's "Racial Integrity Act of 1924," which prohibited marriage between blacks and whites. Finally, in 2000, Alabama became the last state to repeal its law against mixed-race marriages (even though it hadn't been enforced for years).

In its 1967 ruling in Loving v. Virginia, the Supreme Court said:

"Marriage is one of the 'basic civil rights of man,' fundamental to our very existence and survival.... To deny this fundamental freedom on so unsupportable a basis as the racial classifications embodied in these statutes, classifications so directly subversive of the principle of equality at the heart of the Fourteenth Amendment, is surely to deprive all the State's citizens of liberty without due process of law. The Fourteenth Amendment requires that the freedom of choice to marry not be restricted by invidious racial discriminations. Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual and cannot be infringed by the State."

The Fourteenth Amendment, by the way, doesn't include the words "race" or "marriage." It's about citizenship rights for all Americans. It says that states can't abridge or violate those rights.

Read the High Court's statement above again and substitute the words "sexual preference" for the word "race." Eventually, that will be the future.

Answer 7

Fear.

I don't get it either. Congrats to you and your partner for such a long lasting relationship. Yeah I do not understand why they want to persecute gays who want to a commited relationship... it is not like you are trying to beat the system... you just want equal rights. I think it will happen eventually.... just like the civil rights movement. Gay people need to get involved and stand up for their rights, and straight people should also be outraged that any member of this country is being treated with such injustice and stand up and fight with them.

It is not a gay issue... it is a human rights issue.

How are equal rights special rights?

Answer 8

Some people fear change more than anything else. Just 40yrs ago interracial marriage was frowned upon and downright illegal. Having equal right means acknowledgment as human beings and equals to heterosexual couples. Is it any different from a couple that has been together 20 or 30 yrs w/o marriage?

Answer 9

I always wondered why gay people wanted to get married in the first place. I mean, if you love each other, why get the state involved? I thought that was one of the perks of being gay...that there was no pressure to get married. It makes me think of all these women in the workforce that are leaving to go be housewives and what they must have been thinking when they went on their little parades and such.

Answer 10

You don't get it because it makes no sense. Sometimes people think that tradition justifies itself. Slavery was legal once, and that didn't make it right. Take a trip to Mass, get married, and live happily ever after.

The same people who don't want you getting married will point to the Bible, and claim everything in it is true for today. If that's so, then I guess we should take the advice on how to treat our slaves to mean that we should go back to slavery, right? (Check out Exodus sometime. Right next to the 10 commandments, you'll find the instructions for how to treat your slaves). Like I said, these people make no sense.