People are people... why is this even an issue?
Max Franco works in the finance industry in midtown Manhattan:
The foundation of this country was built on individuals' unalienable right to pursue life, liberty and happiness. Forbidding or stigmatizing same sex couples is a clear infringement on those rights. While I fully support marriage equality, I do have one caveat which isn't well informed by data and evidence, but something I think to be true. Same sex couples should be afforded all the economic and social rights that heterosexual couples receive: tax benefits, employer benefits, etcetera. But in the case of child adoption, all things being equal , I think it may serve society well if the heterosexual couple was given priority. I think the child's interest should come before the couple's pursuit of happiness. As I mentioned, there is no evidence to support my belief, it is just an opinion. That could be changed with studies over time done on children of gay couples, though. In that case, I can be swayed if evidence proves to be contrary to my opinion.
Stephanie Sparks Donlan is a mother and wife in Georgia:
I think it's weird we have to even have a Supreme Court hearing on this. The government shouldn't have a say in who can and can't get married. If religious people think it's wrong, that's fine, that's their right, but don't use the government to spread those beliefs. If it's a religious issue, let the individual religious establishments choose who they want to marry and who they don't want to marry.
What is gay marriage?
It is simply marriage. „
Laura Kathryn Tidwell Book is the proud daughter of a gay man:
Marriage equality is a fundamental right. I have heard in my youth, people assume that homosexuals should not be parents because [Christians] see it as an abomination, and I am southern born and raised . However, I have two female friends who are a very strongly committed and loving couple, with kids, as well. They are patient, and kind with their kids, they communicate well with them, and their kids seem more mature because of it . As a child, who has a biological parent who is homosexual, I feel personally, that I am a better human for it... more open and more sensitive. While being ignorant is not a solution, education and communication is.
Christina Pinella is a police officer in Florida:
You don't have to like my lifestyle, you can call me all the names you want, and you can even look away when I hold my girlfriend's hand as we walk by, but I will be damned if anyone tells me who I can and cannot marry, or that my marriage isn't real because the person I say my vows to is a female. Who I love and decide to share my life with is no one's business, just as it is not my business who other people are with. I serve my community every day as a police officer and I took an oath to protect and serve complete strangers and keep people safe. What if I picked and choose who I protected and kept safe and didn't treat everyone as an equal? One day I hope to get married, and when I look into my future wife's eyes and say my vows, I swear to keep them, just as I swore to keep my oath as a police officer.
Jennifer Giacalone is a graphic designer and mother of two living in New Jersey:
This is just one of those times where the law really needs to catch up to the way most people already feel. If they punt on this, which seems unlikely, it will only be a temporary victory for opponents of equality. It sounds from dispatches coming from inside the court that five of the justices are pretty skeptical that there's any benefit to continuing to ban gay marriage. What we are seeing is the definition of a sea change on this issue, and for me, as someone who campaigned and agitated in favor of it as a youngster, it's a big big deal.
Laura Leonard is a bride-to-be, whose full-time job is planning her wedding:
I think we are fighting the wrong term. What is gay marriage? It is simply marriage: A contract you enter promising and committing to each other to always love and respect one another. We are fighting for equal rights. Just as people fought for my dad's school to be integrated or for myself to enter into a bi-racial marriage. As a nation, we need to come together and say no one deserves to be treated as less than or for their love not to be recognized.
Jonathan Sokoloff is a teacher in Jacksonville, Florida:
More!
Celebs took to Twitter and Facebook to share their opinions on gay marriage this week. Here is what they
have to say!
I firmly believe in the fundamental right for two adults who love one another to marry each other regardless of gender. I'm afraid that I'll discover that someone I care about or love is against gay marriage. I don't know how I would react to someone who is actively in my life if I discovered they didn't think I was worthy of marrying the person I love, when that knight in shining armor comes along. I get the same nervous feeling in my stomach that I got when I came out to my friends and family as being gay. I had to go into that conversation prepared to not have that person in my life if they didn't approve of me, because I couldn't imagine them capable of loving me any other way.
Craig St. John is a 39-year-old straight New Yorker, who runs the blog WhyCantWomenCookAnymore:
I woke up this morning as I usually do, listening to NPR. The headlining segment was the Supreme Court ruling on gay marriage. With repeated verses of the quote from the Bible that "marriage" is defined as being between a man and a woman. It really highlighted what's always bothered me about the argument. Of the many things that I love about being an American, one is the belief in separation of church and state. If "marriage" is indeed defined by the Bible, doesn't that make it religious doctrine that should not be regulated by the Constitution? If you want to practice marriage in your church, that seems to be completely acceptable, but if that "right" keeps others from having equality, it seems like it would not keep with the spirit of our Constitution. I'd propose that instead of letting more people marry, we just do away with the term legally altogether. Let's have a Supreme Court ruling that "civil ceremony" is the legal term from now on, and if you want to marry, its a sacrament that you receive in the church.
Up next: The other side of the argument >>
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Gay marriage goes against what I believe in
David Newmon is a computer programmer living in South Florida:
On a Biblical basis I am opposed to same-sex marriage. The Bible is very clear and any church that accepts same-sex marriage is very confused. I personally believe it is morally wrong and sinful against the God I believe in. The Bible says that every other sin is outside the body, but sexual immorality is a sin against your own body. In that sense it is somewhat of a "unique" way to sin. I have nothing against homosexuals or transgender people. They live in a free country and are free to express their sexuality with other people however they wish. I do believe it is discrimination to allow only opposite-sex couples to marry. Just because you choose to live with an alternate lifestyle doesn't mean you shouldn't be able to get the same legal rights of another person. I feel like the church is focusing on the wrong thing. They are focusing on politics. Jesus caused a ripple in time so large that we're still keeping track of how many years it was since He was walking the Earth . And He didn't do it by passing laws. He did it by changing peoples' hearts. He loved His neighbor and He saved the prostitutes and the people that nobody else cared about. The hurting, broken, hopeless and helpless. Those were the people Jesus ministered to and if He was our "model life" to follow, then the church seems to have gone astray.
Michael Savage is a conservative American radio host, author and political commentator. He posted the following on his Facebook page:
Contrary to popular belief, "Gay Marriage" is not about "equality" at all, because most no one who opposes it hates gays or minds civil-unions which would grant homosexual couples FULL RIGHTS under the law. So why is that not good enough? Because "Gay Marriage" is really about undermining and destroying the fundamental values and moral principles which guide and govern society itself. It is part of an insidious and well-coordinated agenda designed to erode our moral convictions and weaken our resolve until we can no longer resist. What's more, it is a DIRECT ATTACK on Christianity, fueled by pure malice and spite, and it is one of the most HATEFUL movements in America today! What do you do when you are attacked? You fight back!
gay marriage other than
I think it's disgusting.„
Chris Newall is a landscaper living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania:
My concern is that if we legalize this, we will not be able to speak against it without someone making it hate speech because the government is really rewriting the institution of marriage which God created. Sure, there are a ton of sins out there, and I'm a sinner too! I just don't think we need to pick and choose which ones are acceptable.
Carolyn Montgomery is a stay-at-home mother living in North Carolina:
As Christians, we may be required to tolerate ungodly behavior, but the moment we begin to endorse the same then we, too, have become suppressers of the truth. You cannot love your neighbor and want to see them excluded from the kingdom of Christ . What is needed is courage in speaking the truth: We cannot love our neighbor and tolerate idolatry and unrepentant rebellion against God. We cannot continue with the "go along to get along" mentality that is leading those we love to destruction. We must speak the word of God with boldness and accept the fact that those who have fallen away may not ever return. We must choose this day whom we will service. Will we stand with the only wise God or with the foolish old-makers of same-sex marriage? I stand personally against gay marriage. I just don't have any hope that the law will prevent equality on the issue because so many Americans are for it.
Jessica Dobordziej is a proud wife and mother-to-be:
As a follower of Jesus Christ, I believe in the Bible as God’s Word which is truth and live my life, with His help, according to it . With that said, I believe that homosexuality is not God’s original design for marriage as it is expressed in the Bible. I don’t condemn gay or lesbian couples as people, nor do I condone their lifestyle. I would never hate or bash someone for this choice. I believe this is above all a spiritual issue more than anything else. I have family members who are living the lesbian lifestyle and I love them. Their choices do not impact how I treat them; they are no less worthy of respect or dignity than anyone else, however, I do not agree with their choice to live out that lifestyle. I have known individuals that struggled with the homosexual desires that were healed and freed from them through their relationship with God. I believe the true design for marriage as God intended is between one man and one woman.
Gerlyn Hobbs is a golf enthusiast and bingo player living in Ohio:
I'm not a Christian. I'm not religious. I'm not spiritual. I have no reason for being against gay marriage other than I think it's disgusting. I don't understand how two men can be in love, nor can I comprehend the same about two women. That's all there is to it. Marriage should be between a man and a woman. Moreover, I think anything on a sexual level should only be between a man and a woman. It's just what's RIGHT.
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