Originally Posted By DVC_Pongo Ha! I've always thought that that argument is absurd. I mean really now. As a percentage of the population, there are an EXTREMELY minute number of gays to begin with. I say, who cares if they get married? I sure as heck know that it has ZERO effect on just about ANYTHING anyway. Straight people (of which there are plenty) need to get over this. Really.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 I agree. Except fot the "extremely minute" part. Never forget there's a big difference between "gay" and "out and gay," especially in certain parts of the country and the world.
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< No, just that the people who argue against gay marriage continually say that gay marriage will somehow destabilize marriage in our society. >>> I also have to wonder if legalizing gay marriage would have a positive effect on reducing straight divorce over the long term, as fewer gay men might end up getting married to women in the first place.
Originally Posted By barboy ///I hear banjo music... PADDLE FASTER!!!/// Ya, good idea----- because "SQUEALING LIKE A PIG" is probably not how most men would want to spend their afternoons.
Originally Posted By barboy It's happy hr. here in this SE Asian sweatbox and I'm drunk.......CHEERS!!
Originally Posted By barboy ///Never forget there's a big difference between "gay" and "out and gay," especially in certain parts of the country and the world./// Out here on the islands I would say that there is pretty much no difference......."tomboys", "badings" and "AC/DC" (regional/local labels for lesbians, male homosexuals and bisexuals). I find it very interesting how homosexuality is such a bid deal in the US for those for or against same gender marriage and it will be available in all states soon, But here in almost all case we just don't care whether one is straight or gay........ we just don't care in the slightest. Same gender marriage will never(yes, I will go ahead and say "never" since it is closer to 0% chance than 1......better chance of an asteroid killing all on earth I say) fly due to the extreme numbers of devout Catholics, Born Againers and muslims. Ironically, complete acceptance(minus the marriage thing) is more or less universal here but same gender marriage just can not be.
Originally Posted By barboy Wow, I forgot to finish my thought(drugs will do that to me sometimes). ///Out here on the islands I would say that there is pretty much no difference......."tomboys", "badings" and "AC/DC" (regional/local labels for lesbians, male homosexuals and bisexuals)............................../// Please insert: basically live their lives freely without encountering bigots with megaphones on the streets yelling "God hate fags". Discrimination in employment, housing, family and friends don't factor in either from what I've seen and heard: if one is attracted to the same gender then there is little to no shame or embarrassment. Same gender attraction is everywhere here and appears even more prevalent than spots like San Fran.
Originally Posted By Mr X ***Same gender marriage will never(yes, I will go ahead and say "never" since it is closer to 0% chance than 1......better chance of an asteroid killing all on earth I say) fly due to the extreme numbers of devout Catholics, Born Againers and muslims. Ironically, complete acceptance(minus the marriage thing) is more or less universal here but same gender marriage just can not be.*** Interestingly, I would say the very same thing about Japan. And Japan has virtually NO Catholics, Muslims, or any significant part of the population that is even moderately religious. Funny that such a heavily religious place like America would be having these debates at all, really.
Originally Posted By Mr X ***Wow, I forgot to finish my thought(drugs will do that to me sometimes).*** <---wants what Barboy is smoking.
Originally Posted By barboy One more thing: I can only guess but if I were attracted to men I would much rather live in this place WITHOUT the availability of same gender marriage than in the US which does offer it----- again, just a hunch.
Originally Posted By barboy ///wants what Barboy is smoking/// LOL!!!....... well tonight's feature drug is alcohol. When in country 'smoking' is a no-no. I'm not looking to risk life in some rat infested, non climate controlled jail cell with 50+ "badings" who want to trade me like cigarettes.
Originally Posted By barboy ///<---smoking is a no-no in Japan too./// You bet! I have never tried to fire up in Tokyo either. (hypothetically of course, I would pay up to $2,000-- maybe even $2,500-- to enter Disney Sea completely blazed if I were guaranteed legal/criminal safety : D )
Originally Posted By Dabob2 <<///Never forget there's a big difference between "gay" and "out and gay," especially in certain parts of the country and the world.///>> <Out here on the islands I would say that there is pretty much no difference......."tomboys", "badings" and "AC/DC" (regional/local labels for lesbians, male homosexuals and bisexuals).> "The Islands" meaning the Philippines? (I forget where you are). I have Filipino friends who have told me the same - it's nearly unique in the world in terms of its "so what" attitude. <Same gender attraction is everywhere here and appears even more prevalent than spots like San Fran.> Which goes to my point to dvcpongo - while a minority, we're hardly "extremely minute." In a place where it's not persecuted, people don't have to lie about it and they're out. Sadly, that's not the case in many places around the world (to put it mildly) and in a number of places in the US. (Mr. X): <Interestingly, I would say the very same thing about Japan. And Japan has virtually NO Catholics, Muslims, or any significant part of the population that is even moderately religious.> Asian attitudes towards sex really are on a different plane from the west sometimes. Some things are freer, some things are more repressed. When I was at Oxford I met a lot of people from Asia (Hong Kong - still British then - and Japan especially). They told me public hand holding among unmarried couples was pretty much a no-no. What to us is innocuous was nearly taboo unless you were married or at least engaged. Yet, once behind closed doors, pretty much anything goes, with few of the puritanical hangups a lot of westerners have. It's not TALKED about openly - it's just done. And, of course, homosexuality was illegal in China and considered a mental illness until 1997 and still largely taboo. So don't expect to see gay marriage there any time soon. Japan - probably also on a different plane of thinking for now, but at least there's progress: <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5imtwjW1jvMoCTXZaahFbK3ClE9ZA" target="_blank">http://www.google.com/hostedne...K3ClE9ZA</a> "Japan has given the green light for its nationals to marry same-sex foreign partners in countries where gay marriage is legal, a justice ministry official said Friday. Japan does not allow same-sex marriages at home and has so far also refused to issue a key document required for citizens to wed overseas if the applicant's intended spouse was of the same gender. Under the change, the justice ministry has told local authorities to issue the key certificate -- which states a person is single and of legal age -- for those who want to enter same-sex marriages, the official told AFP. Gay activists praised the move. "This is one step forward," said Taiga Ishikawa, who leads a gay support group. "Gay Japanese have suffered a disadvantage... although they should be able to marry in some countries overseas." (barboy) <I can only guess but if I were attracted to men I would much rather live in this place WITHOUT the availability of same gender marriage than in the US which does offer it----- again, just a hunch.> Not me. But then again, I've never really been attracted to Filipino men.
