I you agree that marriage institutes certain rights to married couples?

Question

then would you also agree that banning same sex "marriage" in lieu of civil unions is a legislated form of discrimination?

Answer 1

It absolutely is.

The problem is that too many people cannot separate their particular religious definition of marriage from the legal status. They can't seem to understand that their church dogma cannot be used to justify definitions under secular law.

What's even more amusing is that there is no law prohibiting homosexual marriage. None. A gay may can marry a lesbian women in any state. So, all the laws they have enacted have nothing to do with sexual orientation.

They are pure gender-based discrimination. And because gender is a protected class, gender discrimination is a constitutional violation.

Answer 2

Yes, it is discrimination. It is discrimination against gays. So what else is new?

Once again, Coragryph is misleading people with a dubious legal argument. The issue is not one of pure gender-discrimination. That is ridiculous.Gender discrimination means that a woman (as an individual) is being treated worse than a man (as an individual) because of her gender. Or that all women are being treated worse than all men. Our nation's bans on same-sex marriage (common law, statutory law, or constitutional law) treat women and men exactly the same way. No one may get married to someone of the same sex. This rule treats both sexes exactly the same way.

The bans on same-sex marriage do not discriminate on the basis of sex, they discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation. A "hypothetical" example of gay man and a lesbian wanting to get married to one another -- like the example you were talking about -- is a deceptive little game that confuses the issue. If such a couple walks into a registrar's office where marriage licences are issued and asks for one, the first thought on everyone's mind would be that they are heterosexual.

This society has always discriminated against homosexuality and that includes the issue of same-sex marriage. Don't call that discrimination something that it isn't. To do so is just plain deceptive. And this society has always discriminated against homosexuality for at least three reasons -- 1) moral beliefs learned from religious doctrine, 2) the non-religious understanding that the human race needs to reproduce and homosexual behavior doesn't contribute to that, and 3) just plain ol' "homophobia."

Answer 3

Absolutely. Marriage is a legal contract, which allows things to be legally shared between two people. For instance, married couples get tax breaks, qualify to be on each other's insurance policies, and automatically inherit each other's property if one of them dies without leaving a will.

Why should gay people in a long term committed relationship be denied these rights?

Answer 4

Sounds like the civil rights movement just became the smokescreen for allowing gay marriage.

Common law did not make provisions for gay marriage; what has changed?