# Gay marriage, gay rights and WTF is wrong with people? (long, probably incoherent rantage) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 11, 2010, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gay-marriage-gay-rights-and-wtf-is-wrong-with-people-long-probably-incoherent-rantage/535704 "2010-04-11T05:10:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2010, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gay-marriage-gay-rights-and-wtf-is-wrong-with-people-long-probably-incoherent-rantage/535704/121 "2010-04-19T21:43:24Z")
Wasn’t there some other thread recently where someone observed that a lot of these “SSM marriage will ruin hetero marriage” people have this weird idea that \*everyone \*has constant lustful thoughts about the same sex? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2010, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gay-marriage-gay-rights-and-wtf-is-wrong-with-people-long-probably-incoherent-rantage/535704/122 "2010-04-19T21:53:01Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > _Isn’t_ it fair? What if I think Black people are really great at sports, and good cooks, and have great rhythm, but they’re not \*quite \*as smart as white people, so maybe we should reserve more academic scholarships for whites? Is that just a little shortcoming? That’s pretty racist, sure. In 21st century America, that’s generally held to be an unacceptable opinion. In 19th century America, though, you’d be considered some kind of wild-eyed idealist for advocating any scholarships for black people. I’m saying that **magellan** ’s position is essentially similiar to expressing that opinion in the 19th century. While future generations will no doubt look back on his argument with some admixture of bemusement and disgust, in the current social climate, his attitude towards gay rights is actually very liberal, compared with the baseline of public sentiment on the issue. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gay-marriage-gay-rights-and-wtf-is-wrong-with-people-long-probably-incoherent-rantage/535704/123 "2010-04-20T00:57:41Z")
> [@FinnAgain](#): > > That seems… odd. I can’t imagine anybody who wanted to get married not doing so because someone else who they didn’t identify with also got married. Besides, I’d think that a monogamous gay couple would be much more within the norms of marriage than, say, swingers. But that’s just me. You think that’s odd? See if you can get him to explain how having marriage for heterosexuals, and civil unions for homosexuals, constitutes having one body of law for both groups of people. > [@Frylock](#): > > Huh. I’m not sure what this means. > > It seems to me that the positions on gay rights available in the mainstream are: > > People should be allowed to marry people of the same sex. > > People should not be allowed to marry people of the same sex, but they should be allowed to have sex with each other. > > I am not aware of a mainstream view other than the above two. What am I missing? Quite a bit, apparently. As far as gay marriage goes, there are three major positions on the debate. “Gays should be allowed to marry,” is probably the least popular, but also the fastest growing. “Gays shouldn’t be allowed to marry, but they should have civil unions which carry most of the rights of marriage,” is the most popular. And, lastly, we have “There should be no formal government recognition of gay relationships whatsoever.” Also a minority position, but still clearly part of the mainstream, as can be seen in the adoption of just that position into the constitutions of several states. In addition to that: “Gay people should be allowed to serve in the military,” versus “Gay people should be barred from military service.” “Gay people should be allowed to adopt,” versus “Gay people should not be allowed to adopt.” “Firing someone from being gay should be against the law,” versus, “Firing people for being gay is okay.” Ditto with renting property to them. “Homosexuality has no theological relevance,” versus, “Homosexuality is a mortal sin.” Or, heck, even just, “Gay people are okay - I have friends who are gay,” versus, “I don’t like to associate with gay people.” To the best of my knowledge, **magellan** is on the left of every one of those issues. Even his position on gay marriage is solidly liberal: most liberals favor civil unions over full marriage, just like he does. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gay-marriage-gay-rights-and-wtf-is-wrong-with-people-long-probably-incoherent-rantage/535704.md?page=6)