May 28, 2012 -- 2:46PM, karbie wrote:

Marriage is something that grows and evolves--this year will be our 35th wedding anniversary. I never dreamed I'd be disabled, and the fact that my husband has stood by me even during the times I'm basically useless means a great deal to me.

You are not "useless". My husband is currently 'disabled' (had a knee replacement 2 weeks ago and got an infectin in the hospital that requires a 24/7 intravenous drip, among other complications). And, after more than a quarter of a century, it is still my pleasure to care for him.

May 28, 2012 -- 2:46PM, karbie wrote:

 I hope to see gays getting married in religious ceremonies and/or civil unions become the law of the land.

"[G]ays getting married in religious ceremonies" is already happening, and has been happening for more than EIGHT YEARS now in America. It already IS "the law of the land" since any same-gender couple can get legally married in a number of jurisdictions with no residency requirement. These so-called "civil" unions are a distraction that dilutes and wastes the valuable time, energy and resources that should be put towards achieving Constitutionally 'promised' equal  protections of the laws" for ALL citizens.

May 28, 2012 -- 2:46PM, karbie wrote:

If a couple is deeply in love and want to get married, they should be able to do so without pickets or hate-mongers around them.

Heck, Americans can't even have a funeral "without pickets or hate-mongers".

May 28, 2012 -- 2:46PM, karbie wrote:

I'm really tired of people using "I'm a Christian" to justify whatever petty or monstrous thing they want to inflict on all of us.

Me too.

May 29, 2012 -- 12:58AM, Ebon wrote:

May 28, 2012 -- 8:33PM, Ken wrote:

Human right, civil right - what's the difference?

There is a difference. One is rights which are universal and accorded through the simple fact of being human. The other are rights accorded by a particular society to citizens of that society. In practice though, the distinction is only of interest to philosophers and legal theorists.

Incidently, Article 12 of the European Convention on Human Rights (which the UK are signatories to and functions as our Bill of Rights) does classify marriage as a human right.

As does the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

May 29, 2012 -- 9:45AM, farragut wrote:

Perhaps you could tell us, what is the general attitude toward marriage?

Yes I could, but I don't think you'd learn anything new.

May 29, 2012 -- 1:23PM, Yavanna wrote:

Then you're serving no purpose in this discussion, Chari.

Let's humanise this a bit, will you, Yavanna?

The question is not actually, "What purpose do we serve for this discussion?",
but "What purpose does the discussion serve for every single one of us?"

In my case, I can say: it reifies my suspicion against the outdated institution...

What about you?

Marriage may or may not be crap. That is not the point of this thread. The entire point of this thread is that if straights can marry, gays should be able to marry too. And the gay marriages shouldn't be called "civil unions," "domestic partnerships," "connubial contraptions," or some other stupid name. They should be called "marriages," and any straights who don't like it should be told where to shove it.