# Gay Marriage in SF-- does this help or hurt the cause?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gay-marriage-in-sf-does-this-help-or-hurt-the-cause/228916>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [February 12, 2004, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gay-marriage-in-sf-does-this-help-or-hurt-the-cause/228916 "2004-02-12T20:46:09Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 60

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**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\
**Post date:** [February 14, 2004, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gay-marriage-in-sf-does-this-help-or-hurt-the-cause/228916/60 "2004-02-14T01:22:52Z")

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> [@John Mace](#):
>
> Nope, those are not reasons that this is good for the cause of gay marriage. Those are things that make **you** feel good.
> 
> Your other arguments are a bit better. I’m not talking about the MA situation here, just the SF one. As for the what legal method to use, it’s no biggie at all. The law clearly states that marriage is between a man and woman only. The mayor is in violation of that law. As for the people “married”, I agree with those who say they are not. No one is going to put them in jail (this is a civil offense, at worst). But they **will** be breaking the law if they try to file joint tax returns.

An interracial couples getting “married” used to be a willfull and deliberate violation of the law in many States also. If you were around during that time, and the mayor of a town in one of those states handed out marriage licenses to interracial couples would you have suggested to those couples that they elect not to get “married”?

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