The Federal Prop. 8 Trial / Gay Marriage Catch-All

Phoenix Rev wrote:

By an overwhelming vote of 249-97, France has approved legislation that brings marriage equality to that great nation.

Hypatian wrote:

Mmm. Fabulous fries.

So now should we start calling them Freedom Fries?

And not hommes frites?

Robear wrote:

And not hommes frites?

Bravo.

Robear wrote:

And not hommes frites?

Is cannibal an orientation now?

I think they were shooting for "pommes".

Jonman wrote:
Robear wrote:

And not hommes frites?

Is cannibal an orientation now? :)

No, more of a "lifestyle" choice.

Well done my British cousins. 400-175 in favour of gay marriage.

That pretty much means Ireland will have full gay marriage within 2 years.

Axon wrote:

Well done my British cousins. 400-175 in favour of gay marriage.

That pretty much means Ireland will have full gay marriage within 2 years.

WE'RE NUMBER ONE! WE'RE NUMBER ONE!

U! S! A! U! S! A!

Am I doing it right?

Earlier this week, the Illinois Senate passed a marriage equality bill. Prospects are very good that it will pass in the Illinois house, and the IL governor has said he will sign it immediately.

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Also earlier this week, the Associated Press issued a memo regarding what to call spouses in a same-sex marriage. Here was the direction from the memo:

SAME-SEX COUPLES: We were asked how to report about same-sex couples who call themselves “husband” and “wife.” Our view is that such terms may be used in AP stories with attribution. Generally AP uses couples or partners to describe people in civil unions or same-sex marriages.

No one would ever write a news story and refer to a straight married couple as "couple" or "partners" as a matter of course, so the backlash was pretty quick.

So, the AP issued a new memo:

SAME-SEX COUPLES: We were asked how to report about same-sex couples who call themselves “husband” and “wife.” Our view is that such terms may be used in AP content if those involved have regularly used those terms (“Smith is survived by his husband, John Jones”) or in quotes attributed to them. Generally AP uses couples or partners to describe people in civil unions or same-sex marriages.

Oh, how charitable. If Rubb Ed dies, the AP, if they wrote a story, would call him my husband because that is what I call him. But if we both die in a fiery car crash and the AP reporter doesn't know what we call each other - even though we have a valid California marriage license - we will get called a "couple" or "partners."

We have made such great strides in equality for gays and lesbians and yet we still have idiots over at the AP who don't see what the problem is.

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The American Family Association sent out an email blast criticizing Defense Sec. Leon Panetta for giving military benefits to those in same sex marriage or partnerships, including burial plots in Arlington. According to the AFA:

Most disturbing is his decision to allow homosexual partners to be buried on the hallowed grounds of Arlington National Cemetery.

I urge you to do your part in restoring sanity to the Department of Defense and stop social experimentation in the military.

It's offensive enough that the AFA thinks that being gay means you can't be buried in "hallowed ground," but what sort of brain trust is in operation at the AFA if they think that since Arlington was established in 1864, not a single gay man or lesbian has been buried there.

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And, finally, Neil Clark Warren, the homophobic founder of eHarmony, can't seem to just let the reality of gay marriage go. It's bad enough that he whines about gay men falling in love with each other, but now, he is whining that gay marriage is damaging his company.

Cry me a river.

But even worse is this little gem right from Warren's mouth:

I have said that eHarmony really ought to put up $10 million and ask other companies to put up money and do a really first class job of figuring out homosexuality. At the very best, it's been a painful way for a lot of people to have to live.

Perhaps it would be a better investment if we spent $10 million trying to figure out why homophobic bigots like Neil Clark Warren are so threatened by gays and lesbians hooking up or getting married.

Or, maybe Warren could spend some of that money on a good therapist to deal with his neurosis.

Isn't Neil Clark Warren the charming older guy who shows up whenever I watch prime time network tv shows to tell me that internet dating is a-ok?

So much for that first impression.

Seth wrote:

Isn't Neil Clark Warren the charming older guy who shows up whenever I watch prime time network tv shows to tell me that internet dating is a-ok?

So much for that first impression.

Yeah, my wife and I met through eHarmony, so it's hard to demonize them now... but we did decide not to show support for the website going forward or send in our story of meeting through the site and getting married. Unfortunate that such a great site is run by such a jerk. You would think a guy who makes money off love would be all for more love existing in the world.

A new poll released today shows strong bipartisan support for same-sex marriage rights. The poll, conducted by Anzalone Liszt Grove Research and released by the Respect for Marriage Coalition, found that three-quarters of those surveyed – including 75 percent of independents and 56 percent of Republicans – see the ability to marry the person you love as a constitutional right.

Dag,yo.

Phoenix Rev wrote:

But even worse is this little gem right from Warren's mouth:

I have said that eHarmony really ought to put up $10 million and ask other companies to put up money and do a really first class job of figuring out homosexuality.

They should offer Dan Savage $2 million for his findings. He's done a first class job, involving a lot of rough, hands-on work.

IMAGE(https://i.chzbgr.com/maxW500/7074553344/h9B1E1B4A/)

KingGorilla wrote:

IMAGE(https://i.chzbgr.com/maxW500/7074553344/h9B1E1B4A/)

As much as I find the homo sapiens comment amusing, the "If a man marries another man, who will do the dusting and vacuuming?" statement had me laughing and cringing at the same time.

Someone just posted on my Facebook news feed the following quote:

Asking who is the man and who is the woman in a gay relationship is like asking which chop stick is the fork.
Paleocon wrote:

Someone just posted on my Facebook news feed the following quote:

Asking who is the man and who is the woman in a gay relationship is like asking which chop stick is the fork.

I often wonder if this question is more sexual in nature or more social.

IE is the question "Who penetrates whom?" or is it "Which one cooks the roasts, and which one goes to the office?"

It's tacky either way.

I have wondered, however, as a matter of genetics. When gay couples have biological children, what process goes into that. And then dealing with their children with that.

Ultimately is 2 men find a surrogate mother, only one of their genetic material will end up impregnating the woman. Only 1 woman in a lesbian relationship will bear the child so there is no question which one is pregnant.

How does a gay couple deal with an inevitable question like "But which one of you is my "real" mommy?" Or "Why do I look more like one dad, but not my other dad?"

clover wrote:

It's tacky either way.

This.

It's tantamount to saying to a man married to a woman - "What? You do the cooking? But you have a wife."

Gender stereotyping is the preserve of the douchebag regardless of whom they're being applied them to.

KingGorilla wrote:

I have wondered, however, as a matter of genetics. When gay couples have biological children, what process goes into that. And then dealing with their children with that.

Ultimately is 2 men find a surrogate mother, only one of their genetic material will end up impregnating the woman. Only 1 woman in a lesbian relationship will bear the child so there is no question which one is pregnant.

How does a gay couple deal with an inevitable question like "But which one of you is my "real" mommy?" Or "Why do I look more like one dad, but not my other dad?"

C'mon Gorilla, you're a smart dude.

It depends on the specifics of the situation, like any other way to have kids (or do anything involving more than one person). Some couples set it up so they don't know which is the bio parent, some feel one partner is a better fit for various reasons, some mix and match.

How does any couple deal with awkward questions from their bio, adopted, or other kids? Hopefully by telling them the age-appropriate truth. That's not even a little bit unique to gay parenting.

I have known several single moms who refer to biological fathers as "sperm donors".

clover wrote:

C'mon Gorilla, you're a smart dude.

Clover, there are all sorts of conversations I am surprised parents need to have with their kids, generally because of ignorant people.
-Why don't we go to church? Jane says I am going to hell because I am not baptized.
-Am I autistic because I got shots, but Billy didn't?
etc.

I like to pretend that I live in a world of reason, logic, and respect. Your kids are a primary conduit into the truth that much of our world is none of these things.

In my mind, I never really thought that vaccines, or sports, or videogames could be the source of consternation that they can be for parents and kids.

Don't even get me started on the anti-vax folks.

link

Technically a lesbian couple can both genetically contribute to the child. Prior to fertilization you can take the Chromosomes from one egg and put it into another egg, which has its original mitochondria from that donor.

Not sure if that's ever been done outside of the lab though.

Actually, I'm pretty sure that in the lab they have directly spawned animal offspring from two women. The sperm is just a delivery system, and you can replace that. Eventually you should be able to do the same thing with men, as long as you can ensure you don't get two y chromosomes.

I'll look for links when I get home.

KingGorilla wrote:

I often wonder if this question is more sexual in nature or more social.

IE is the question "Who penetrates whom?" or is it "Which one cooks the roasts, and which one goes to the office?"

Since our marriage, Rubb Ed and I have encountered the question of "So, which one of you is the wife?" many times.

While I am willing to accept the ignorance of the question because we live in a heterosexual-dominated world, I do wish that people would think things through a bit or at least do a Google search. Of course, I do quickly respond with "If Dave or I wanted a wife, we would be heterosexual."

Now, I understand that some people are genuinely curious about the mechanics of a gay relationship, particularly about sex, and if the question is asked respectfully, I will answer in a respectful and clinical manner.

However, sometimes the questions aren't respectful and at that point I simply advise the people they should not have slept through biology class.

I've talked about this sort of issue with my therapist, in the context of "dealing with people asking inappropriate questions". He rolls his eyes a lot at the "so you're gay, what's it like having sex [em]all the time[/em]?" question.

Hypatian wrote:

I've talked about this sort of issue with my therapist, in the context of "dealing with people asking inappropriate questions". He rolls his eyes a lot at the "so you're gay, what's it like having sex [em]all the time[/em]?" question.

The answer is "Awesome!" right?

The answer is "Why do you imagine that homosexual couples have more sex than heterosexual couples? And what makes you think it's okay to pry into my sex life?"

Any question like that which reduces someone to a sex object is really ridiculously insulting. It's a similar thing for trans folk and having people ask questions that imply that the only thing that matters is what's between your legs.

I know I have posted about it before, but any time someone mentions the "homosexual agenda" I immediately think of the wonderful piece that Betty Bowers did exposing the real deal.