So besides one of the most major events in an average person’s life, an event that’s effects cascade on to many major social & practical concerns, what rights do gays lack in America? I think that one is enough, personally. 50 years from now we will look back on this period the same way we look back on the civil rights period.
Wills and powers of attorney will accomplish the same thing.
No, they won’t.
At greater expense, trouble, and a higher chance of being challenged than a marriage certificate.
And they still don’t give you the right to adopt children, or protect you in case of divorce, or custody issues, etc.
IIRC, there are also communities where two unmarried, unrelated adults are forbidden by zoning laws from living together.
I hate to be nitpicky and I am for gay marriage but gay people are allowed to marry exactly the same way every once else can. They just have to marry someone of the opposite sex and it isn’t rare at all for some of them to choose that. Technically, it isn’t discrimination against gay people but rather a particular preference and it applies to everyone. That is slightly different from other forms of discrimination.
Well sure unless they have been convicted of a felony. Sodomy laws have been enforced as felony’s so getting caught having sex with your partner prior to 2003 could mean you don’t have a right to vote. I know of no required sexuality to vote however so sure we aren’t directly discriminated against there.
depends on where you if your state doesn’t considers homosexuals a protected class a bank private individual or home owner association can tell you flat out we will not sell to you give you a loan or allow you to live here if you are gay.
A private college can exclude anyone for any reason with the exception of protected classes. Again not all states consider homosexuals a protected class. Colleges like Brigham Young will certainly show you the door if they find out you are gay as it is a violation of their honor code.
Once again this depends on who is offering the scholarship and what states laws apply. If the Westboro Baptist church decides to offer a scholarship fund they will certainly exclude gays from being able to receive it.
If your state does not consider homosexual to be a protected class any business can demand any gay person leave by saying we don’t allow gays here. If you are asked to leave a refuse the state is required to remove you as you are trespassing.
No. new legislation is still needed until homosexual is a protected class federally it will be legal in some places for bigots to discriminate solely based on sexual preference.
Which is rather like defending anti-miscegenation laws by saying that a mixed race couple shouldn’t complain about being forbidden to marry because they can “marry someone of the same race just like everyone else”.
What can a straight man do a gay man can’t?
Publicly announce his sexual orientation without fear of losing his; . . . I’m quite stunned that there even needs to be a list.
CMC fnord!
Straight guy who somehow still manages to get it, maybe being 48 helps?
Thanks, it’s not a proper gay marriage thread until someone trots out that bit of idiocy.
I love you Miller. <3
No, it is the literal response based on the thread title. It is just logic, not a value judgement.
-I was under the impression that sexual orientation was included in the federal protection clause. I suppose it should be, certainly in the issue of housing and banking.
Not so, per se, plenty of place have publicly gay employees. I had a boss who was gay, and 3 co-workers. 2 lived together. Not saying this is the norm, but isn’t the above quote not always true?
-Still the reason I say EXCEPT marriage, is that I’m single. I’m trying to see what are the actual differences that are legal.
-I’ve worked at some very gay friendly employers, and had a boss who was gay. I can imagine a work place that would be very unfriendly to gays. It seems to me gays will go to fields where they are treated fairly. I’d have no interest in working for a boss who hated Catholics. I know they exist. Is forcing private organizations really in anybody’s best interest? If I refuse to hire gays I shoot myself in the foot,and lose both employees and customers. Isn’t the profit loss more effective in changing behavior than a law?
-Like I mentioned before, although there have been several examples of personal discrimination, there have been few listed examples of outright violations of civil rights. The majority of the states have overturned their out-dated anti-sodomy laws. These would be an example of actually civil rights violations. But what else is out there?
But that is SUCH a big one. Even though you are single, in the USA, you are ALLOWED to get married to a member of the sex you are naturally inclined to. In the USA gay people can not.
Do you live in the USA? If so, your family can’t inherit someone else’s property.
Two people buying a home together is a common event, and it’s not limited to gay people.
If you bought the house together, then you and your partner/spouse would be on the deed as joint tenants with rights of survivorship. One owner dies, and their property interest transfers to the surviving owner, when then becomes the sole owner. Your family can’t take away their property.
Joint tenancy does not exist in all states, and even in those which do have it you probably don’t have a joint tenancy unless you engaged an attorney to draft your conveyance document. The default is tenancy in common, in which there is no right of survivorship and your ownership interest goes to your estate.
At best, it’s pedantry.
Who’s on first?
Would you feel the Second Amendment was being upheld if the government said you had a full right to own any firearm you wished - but all firearms owned by private citizens must be secured in a government-run arsenal? And you’re allowed to bear your firearm whenever you want to - as long as you do it within the government-approved safety zone (a bulletproof enclosure inside the arsenal)?
That’s the kind of “nitpick” you’re claiming when you say gay people have equal marriage rights as long as they don’t marry somebody of the same sex.