Sign Sign everywhere a sign
Blocking out the scenery breaking my mind
Do this, don’t do that, can’t you read the sign
H/T: Karl Frisch of Media Matters
On October 11, 2009,
in Liberate Your Radio from The Right,
by Mary Mancini
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
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I don’t think we are a gay harboring state… I’m not a lawyer..
There are plenty of states that allow such behavior.
[...] is interesting in light of a recent discussion by liberadio.com commenters (led by Ryan who can talk to goats, apparently): A Louisiana justice of [...]
Ryan – Are civil unions legally allowed in Tennessee?
Hate crime legislation is already in place. There is no need for new laws.
Mary, they are already equal. I explained that in my response. There are already laws protecting them to the same extent as everyone else. Anything including “gay” would be special.
So, a man should be able to marry his 20 year old daughter or son, right? They are all consenting, tax paying, and law-abiding… right? What the heck is the difference?
I don’t understand what you are saying about citizens who can’t maintain the laws that protect those who need protecting. That doesn’t make sense.
We don’t have laws against civil unions, Mary…
I’ve answered your question three times now. A marriage license is not necessary for a civil union to be recognized by the state… there only has to be a judge’s signature.
I hate to call you out on it again, but please use some proper written (typed) English. Run-on sentences and conjuctions at the beginning of sentences make you really hard to follow. Let’s be professional. It is your job, after all.
Actually, a lot of this deals with hate-crime legislation, which a lot of conservatives oppose. Glad to see you on board with that.
“Just because they are gay, they don’t need any special laws. That is absurd.”
They’re not asking for special, they’re asking for equal.
No – we cannot leave out the goat. You and everyone who is against marriage equality uses beastiality as a “slippery slope” argument. And Dean is right, using that as argument is offensive – to our law-abiding, tax-paying gay brothers and sisters as well as all American citizens who you seem to think can’t maintain the laws that protect those who need protecting. So the answer to your question, “Who is not allowed to have a legal civil union?” Whoever our laws say are not allowed.
Now, will you answer mine…? Can a same sex couple get a marriage license in the state of Tennessee so that their civil union is recognized by the state…and thereby they are afforded the same rights under state law that married couples are afforded?
Dean, should there be laws to protect me from being frowned on by gay people because I’m straight?
No, of course not.. just as there should be nothing special for a gay person. If they are assaulted, there are laws to protect them. If they are raped, there are laws to protect them. If someone is commits a hate crime against them because they are gay, there are laws to protect them. If they are harmed in any way.. there are laws to protect them.
Just because they are gay, they don’t need any special laws. That is absurd.
The goat thing was a “baaaaaaaaaahhhhad” joke.
(Sorry. Had to be done.)
Ryan, I actually do see your point about civil unions. I disagree with it, but I see it.
What’s more, however, is that there are millions of people out there who look on gays as inferior and should either be “changed” or outcast, simply because of whom they are attracted to. That being the case, there is a need for laws that protect them from discrimination.
I hope to see the day there are no needs for such laws, and I think that might be the case. Homophobia seems to dwindle with the passage of time.
Mary, ok.. let’s leave out the goat.. since that was kind of a joke.
Should a man be able to marry his 20 year old child (son or daughter)?
Who is not allowed to have a legal civil union?
Next time you have a conversation with a goat, Ryan, let me know.
One more time, can a same sex couple get a marriage license in the state of Tennessee so that their civil union is recognized by the state…and thereby they are afforded the same rights under state law that married couples are afforded?
You say “there is no infringment with a civil union.. they have the same ‘rights’â€..” and you are correct. But what if they are are not allowed to have a legally sanctioned civil union?
Comparing homosexuality to beastiality, incest or polygamy is just stupid and offensive. It’s the only argument the anti-gay-marriage movement has, but it works because it plays to people’s baseless fears.
In terms of emotion, gay relationships are just like heterosexual ones. And as a heterosexual males, it’s incumbent on us to stand up to ignorance.
Dean, marriage, by definition, is the social institution under which a man and woman establish their decision to live as husband and wife by legal commitments. There is no infringment with a civil union.. they have the same “rights”..
Mary, I’m talking about consenting adults, as well. Well, one example I’m talking about a consenting adult and a consenting goat, but everyone is consenting in my example. What is freaky about that?
A same sex couple doesn’t have to have a marriage license to form a civil union. It is a court ordered union.
Ryan, I’m talking about the rights of two consenting adults – not sure what freaky deaky things you’re talking about.
So, one more time, can a same sex couple get a marriage license in the state of Tennessee so that their union is recognized by the state?
“(G)etting married is something a man and a woman do… People that want to marry the same sex can have a civil union.”
By definition, that is an infringement upon a gay person’s right.
Mary, if you allow a man and another man to marry, where will it stop?
Would it be ok if I wanted to marry my son?
Would it be ok if I wanted to marry 5 men?
Would it be ok if I wanted to marry a goat?
The definition of marraige is a union between a man and a woman. That isn’t a religious thing, it is a Webster thing.
All marriages are civil unions. That’s the only way a marriage can be recognized by the state. If you have a ceremony in a church without a marriage license then your marriage may be considered legit in your church but it is not recognized by the state.
So, Ryan, can a same sex couple get a marriage license in the state of Tennessee so that their union is recognized by the state?
getting married is something a man and a woman do…
People that want to marry the same sex can have a civil union.
I thought gays couldn’t marry in this state. Did something happen overnight that I wasn’t aware of?
Who in the world is infringing on anyone’s rights?
I’ve never seen a gay slave, or a gay person that wasn’t given the opportunity to get married, or to form a civil union, or to have a bank account, or to go to church, or to speak freely, or to write an editorial, or to produce a blog…
NEVER have I seen a gay person’s rights infringed. Please explain that to me.
Ryan, do you or do you not see that a majority is trying to infringe on the rights of a minority and basing their objection of said minority on religious precepts that in no legal way can dictate the policies of the state?
Conform?
Are we talking about gay people here, or what?
I have no problem with “equality”… what I have a problem with is people being catered to because they are “different”… that is absurd. If you want to be different, go for it. Don’t expected to be treated any differently than anyone else, though.
To an extent, Ryan, I agree.
But if a large segment of society tries to make a small segment of society to conform by using tactics of intimidation and fear, then it’s a societal problem.
If you can’t say “Hello World, I am ______”
That is a problem you have with yourself… it isn’t anyone else’s fault.
Who are you to say that someone denies all and lies to themselves? Do you know their hearts, Colloyd?
Life ain’t worth a damn if you can’t say, Hello World, I am what I am.
Unfortunately trying to be OPEN with people who spend their lives in PRIVATE DENIAL of who they are even, seems rather ineffective. They think they are RIGHT (correct) and they are justified and so “pure”, because they deny all and lie to themselves, their families, their public and are clueless as to what it is to live freely, openly, nonjudgementally and with truth.