HAD NO IDEA!!! WOW

I don’t agree with gay marriage. Marriage was made for a man and a woman. If you allow 2 women or 2 men to get married I feel you should let that happen if they are gay or not. If you just allow same sex marriage for gays then that is not fair either. Therefore it should be just for a man and a woman.

Prop 8 Is not retroactive therefore it does not invalidate any marriages performed on or before November 4, there are estimated to be between 16 and 25 thousand same sex couples who exercised their right to marry.  It is also very questionable if it is even a legal amendment.  This is because the California supreme court has determined that the LGBT community is a constitutionally protected minority and that their rights cannot be subjected to the whims of the majority.  It is very likely that the court will overturn prop 8 in the near future which will mean that same sex marriage will continue to be the law whether or not the majority of the voters agree.  The lead case before the supreme court is Strauss v. Horton

I wish everyone would stop comparing this to a minority situation being black is not a choice while picking to date men or women IS… This is clearly not a minority situation. Same sex marriages invites same sex people who are not gay to now try to get the right to marry for undeserved benefits and who is to say that they would be wrong just like who is to say that same sex marriage is wrong. At some point this has to stop and it stops with outlawing gay marriage.

proposition 8 was a sneak hit that a great part of the gay community was not ready to respond to.  the jargon was also very confusing for a great part of straight people trying to decide yes or no to a proposition that was not absolutely clear to everyone who confronted it. this is just the beginning against discrimination and african americans should be ashamed of themselves for voting yes on an amendment that also described/valued them as being only 3/5ths of a person just 30 yrs ago. one love conquers all and is the only thing that matters between two people that want to share their love together forever.
melissa

i love u ms. wanda sykes, i’m a gay female and had my suspicions regarding u but just dismissed them since u never embraced that part of yourself to the public. I’m a formal commercial model/actress (billboard & various print.  I’ve temporarily (approx. five years, put on hold, the pursuance of the “acting modality of life” to reenter academia life and to study art therapy/expressive arts psychotherapy. i’m now working with abused children and victims of domestic violence where i feel that my direct influence is making a difference in individual’s lives. Through all of this experience I’m confident that i’m ready to re-enter the feelings and personal meaning of genuine depth of emotion in finding that personal answer.
melissa d

Clearly another example of the FAKE separation of Church and State.  If there was a TRUE separation of church and state then the bible and religion would be non-issues.  You don’t want to call it marriage?  FINE!  Call it whatever you want to call it, but legally they should be granted the same rights that are granted to heterosexual unions I honestly can’t believe we’re having this discussion in 2008.  So smart, but yet so dumb.

Prop 8 was not a sneak hit on the gay community. If you allow homosexuals to get married why can’t you allow heterosexuals the same thing. Once the floodgates become open anyone will be able to use marriage for all the wrong reasons. To Melissa you are an idiot trying to compare being gay, A CHOICE, to being black. That is a slap in the face to all black people and if anyone should be ashamed of themselves it’s people like you that are trying to degrade blacks. Sometimes church and state need not to be seperated.

@Reggie

Do you even know what “heterosexual” means?  Church has no business in Politics.  Church/Religion simply adds another layer of divide-and-conquer.  Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, The Mormons, to name a few; imagine having to consult each and everyone of these “Churches” before drafting a law.  Oh, I’m sorry, you thought by “Church” the only meant the Christian Church.  Wake up son!

Wanda Sykes is one of the funniest, smartest, and talented women alive. Let’s get all Californians to listen to her. She nails it. Sykes and all of us deserve the freedom to marry the person we love. Check out hundreds of photos of wonderful gay and lesbian couples who have now been married in Massachusetts for 4 1/2 years! Only good has come of our marriages. Go Wanda. Help us change minds. Your wit can do it. http://www.courtingequality.com

I am against gay marriage as term to be used by homosexuals who desire to destroy traditional term. Adam and Eve brought marriage to mankind, it’s only for the heterosexual couple to get married. Sodom and Gomorrah is a lessons for homosexuals rebellion against God laws. I hope God bring’s worser punishment than Sodom and Gomorrah for gays around the wold.

I think that you would have to be gay to really know if it’s a choice or not. I just don’t understand how it could possibly be a choice. But at the end of the day gay marriage is definitely a civil rights issue. Denying gays the same rights and benefits as heterosexuals will not decrease the gay population nor will it turn any of them straight. Proposition 8 was all about a portion of the population wanting to punish two consenting adults for living a life that others perceive as being wrong.

I am for gay marriage, however I don’t think that church’s and religious institutions should have to acknowledge, perform, or honor these marriages if it’s against what they believe.

I have to be on the “no to gay marriage side”. On one hand it gives people the right to abuse the system and get benefits that people that are in love get. And on the other hand marriage was made for a man and a woman. I don’t care about state, I don’t care about church, marriage was made for a man and a woman. America is too busy trying to please anyone that wants a cause legit or not and this is not a legit cause. I also have to second the motion on white people that are white tying this to being black. That is very disrespectful to compare the two.

I disagree. This is a legit cause for those who’ve fallen in love but can never be protected by the laws, which means they can build a life together and have no rights to any of what they worked for. Marriage is just a legal term that recognizes two people’s commitment to one another and covers the assets they’ve acrued while together, as well as individual rights for each person if something were to happen to other and different tax and health benefits. Denying gays the option to have that same coverage is a violation of their civil rights. I don’t agree with them comparing it to the black civil rights movement because some of them can hide that they’re gay. We can’t hide our blackness. But I do agree that their civil rights are being violated.

So why shouldn’t me and one of my homies be allowed “the same benefits that gays who fall in love get?” IF we allow two of the same sex to get married then why can’t two straight men or women get married? Why don’t we just scrap marriage and let anyone get married if that is the case? This is the beginning to scrapping marriage anyways.

the bible says be fruitful and multiply now how gay people gon do that,i won’t touch that issue, i’ll just let God handle that, BUT AS FAR AS WANDA SYKES GOES SHE DEFINATELY HAD ME FOOLED, hoodwinked, bamboozled,hornswoggled,etc.

I guess this is where the divide comes in. Both sides feel that they have legitimate arguments. I personally see no harm with awarding gay couples marital rights. Maybe the word ‘marriage’ is the problem. I don’t know. Maybe it wouldn’t be this much of an issue if it were called something else.

@Gene

You are brilliant.  You said the same thing I did.

Ok, just because Gene agrees with you that makes him brilliant??? It doesn’t take much for a person to be brilliant in YOUR world. Gay marriage is still wrong and the PEOPLE, not gobernment, of California have spoken. They don’t want to be involved with something that is so wrong.

Personally, I do not have a problem with people being gay but don’t try to push that on the rest of us. By trying to push gay marriage on us that is exactly what gay people are trying to do. Live your lives and let us live ours, don’t try to tie the two lives into one becaus they aren’t.

Thank you danzenie, this is a very passionate issue for both sides. And as we can see some people are just very hateful in general.

I still think that it is none of anyone else’s business if gays want to be covered under the same laws as straights. To me this is not something that “the people” should have a say in. It doesn’t affect me or my life in any way if two women or two men want to marry each other. As I pointed out earlier, outside of religious organizations marriage is just a legal term to describe a couple’s benefits that are recognized by the law. The public seems scared that something horrible will happen if gays are awarded these rights. It’s as if people think that the bible is going to be re-written to accept homosexuality if gay marriages go through. That’s why I think gays should consider calling it something other than a marriage.

If “the people” had nothing to say we, as black people, would not have a lot of the rights that we have today. But the minute “the people” want something that is wrong righted then “the people” shouldn’t have a say in it. We can’t have it both ways. It is none of nobody business what gays do in private but the minute they want to bring it in the open and get credits and benefits they don’t deserve it IS our business.

^^^^You know what, you are right. And these are the same “people” who will eventually give the green light to some form of gay marriage just like in the case of the Black civil rights movement. Blacks were met with same opposition and look at us now. It’s inevitable, gay marriage is going to happen. It’s just a matter of when. Other parts of the country have already began to approve it and it’s very likely that the Supreme court of California will reverse the decision of the “people”.

And if the green light is given to gay marriage then it also should be given to same sex people who aren’t gay to be married. There is the problem, when does it end? America is too busy trying to please everyone and I personally am tired of it. Gay marriage is wrong but this country is so “politically correct” that we can’t be correct, if you know what I mean.

Gay marriage should not be legalized.our children are already confused by conflicting and amoral national situations. This legalization would clearly muddle and confuse. Marriage has always, historically, worldwide been between a man and a woman and should remain so. There already exists ways to will property and designate power of attorney rights. There is no reason for this kind of union to be a legal marriage.

@1 UP

As long as they meet the legalities that define whatever the new name they would give to “gay marriage” then why not?  If you’re straight, but you’re willing to go before a judge and declare that you and your homeboy or homegirl want to take the gay marriage route then why not.  I guarantee you though that this would be a very minute and insignificant percentage of the population.  Not enough to say “you know what, straight people are going to abuse this, and because of this we cannot do it.”  In fact straight heterosexuals do this now!!  Pretend classical marriage (male & female) for money, citizenship, tax breaks, etc.  Its out there and no one wants to destroy classical marriage because some heterosexual couples are marrying for things other than “love.”

On another note, its amazing that we’re having a discussion about denying or granting rights based on “sexuality.”  Ever so often I come back to this thread and I’m truly amazed at what I read.  It makes me realize how out of touch I am with the realities of others.  I honestly thought it was wrong to deny citizens rights based on sexuality, religion, etc.  Like Gene said, we don’t have to force it on the Church.  In fact, I am strongly against churches that want to change the rules and marry homosexual couples.  There is no changing the churches stance on sexuality, and that’s good.  What’s sin yesterday is still sin today, and should still be sin tomorrow.  But government is not church, and government should not deny rights based on sins.

I’ve briefly read over the comments, and I see both arguments for and against gay marriage.  I could honestly care less who marries who.  We as a society spend way too much time and energy trying to stop people from doing things that they’ll do anyway.  I think my issue with prop 8 is that the language was tricky.  It is my understanding, and I may be wrong, that this proposition would have made it illegal for churches to deny same sex couples the right to marry.(Someone please correct if I’m wrong)  If this is the case, then I cannot support that.  Any religious institution has the right to practice its religion freely.  However I do believe that this ammendment is unconstitutional and will be overturned. I think if people want to protect “traditional marriage” then they should encourage friends, and family members to really cherish marriage and respect it.  Gay people can not mess up marriage anymore than straight people have.

@MsMoni

Govt cannot for the Church to marry people.  You can’t even get married in a catholic church if you’re not a Catholic.  Same goes for the Muslims, Jews, Mormons, and others.  So the government cannot force any church to accept and marry homosexual couples.

danzenie, your points are well taken. The only problem I have with your points is you are calling giving gay people the right to marry as “granting rights”. If anything this will be granting a wrong. Granting rights is giving people the right to do something that is right. This is why the people of California have voted this dowm it’s because Gay marriage is wrong. One thing you said to MsMoni is that government can’t force churches to marry people. Government is thinking about taxing churches so if the government choses to they can force the issue. You brought up the point that straight people, for the most part, wouldn’t abuse this rule but I wouldn’t want to open it up to be abused by anyone. You also brought up that there are straight marriages that are for money, which I think if proven should be anulled, citizenship, which is illegal, and other things but no one wants to destroy traditional marriage. That’s because it is traditional. Gay marriage would DEFINITELY take away the importance of REAL marriage because it will allow anyone to be married and that is not what marriage is for. It is suposed to be a special day, now, if gay marriage is continued, it can be anyones day. I am all for gay relationships but they should be left at that.

WTF church does(religion)have to do with the Prop 8. Nothing will change as far as stamping out homosexuality. I really think that too many of you are arguing the fact that homosexuality is wrong when the real conversation is about if all people regardless of sexual orientation should have the same spousal rights under law. Another thing, marriage is a LEGAL term. Maybe initially it was solely about union under God but if that was what it really was about then a contract (marriage license), alimony, spousal support, etc. would be unnecessary. I don’t remember a verse in the bible that speaks of Thou shall pay ye exwife 17% of ye earnings to maintain her conditioned lifestyle.

Bible Bumpers wake the f**k up!!!

*switch church and does around*

I knew it! I knew it! I knew it.

Points well taken about government. However the fact still remains that denying law abiding citizens rights guarantee to them under the constitution is…well unconstitutional.  I’m not following the logic where by allowing gay marriage it will somehow invalidate traditional marriage.  Traditional marriage has taken a blow by straight people who abuse it.  With the amount of divorces now and days I wonder if people even know what it means to be married in committed relationships anymore.  To deny two adults the right to be legally wedded will not stop those two adults from being together. Gay people have been around since the beginning of time and have maintained despite the teachings of all the major religions.  If you truly believe in God then you must accept this people as they are and allow God to pass judgment because in the end his is the only opinion that matters.
Since individual states grant marriage licenses then they do not have the right to withhold certain liberties guaranteed to adults under the constitution.  Ultimately, in my mind this comes down to whether or not this country truly believes in freedom for all or freedom for some.

MsMoni, I am a law abiding citizen, should I be allowed to play on a womens basketball team? Should my son be allowed to join the girl scouts? There are reasons that some things are in place. Just because they are law abiding doesn’t mean they should have anything they want. Gay marriage invalidates traditional marriage because then it will make it right for any person or anything to be married. If you water down anything it takes away from how special it is suposed to be. I agree with you that marriage isn’t what it’s used to be but that’s not a reason to make it even less than it is. Gay people HAVE been around for quite sometime but they have also not been able to get married for quite some time and there is a reason for that. I am more for being correct instead of being “politically correct” and if this unfortunate law is allowed to pass it will be another case of America trying to be too politically correct instead of doing the right thing. Being politically correct is why this country is in the moral decline that it is in today. A lot of the morally wrong things that you see in this country you don’t see in other countries.

1 up, I have to respectfully disagree with you.  To me your reasoning stems from a biblical background and while I can respect that I still have a hard time with how it would change your marriage( if you are married) or any other heterosexual marriage.

Our country is in moral decline due in large part to the attitude that we have where we constantly pass judgment on others without looking at ourselves. I wasn’t trying to be politically correct but there is a reason why we have a separation between church and state. The state should not be subject to the same law as the church and vice versa.  I am perfectly fine with religious institutions saying no to gay marriage, however the state has the responsibility to provide its citizens with equal rights and protections under the law.

The 14th amendment clearly states “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws”

I can’t agree with the idea of marriage being available to some and not to others. It has been abused by heterosexuals at large and has been made a mockery of time and time again.  The fact is that people who do have the right to get married don’t cherish it or treasure it the way it should be.  I don’t understand how homosexual marriage can threaten the institution of marriage any more than heterosexuals who commit adultery, abuse their spouses, or enter into sham marriages.  If you yourself aren’t gay, then I have to ask how it directly affects you?

I don’t think people should get everything they want, but to deny someone the right to marry is to delegate them as a second class citizen.  There are many things in this country that I don’t like, but I can only live my life to the best of my ability.  All I can do is pray for others who I may feel are going down the wrong road in life.  I don’t feel we as humans have the right to judge others when we our not without sin.  If God holds our final judgment then let him decide these peoples fate.  In the mean time all we can do is focus on ourselves and our families and do what we think is right.

MsMoni, a lot of what you have eloquently stated I agree with but this countries moral decline is to not in large part to judgements it’s due to the lack of rules and self control that this country has. Take for instance all the children being born without fathers being around, in some part that is due to deadbeat dads but in many cases it is due to “you can’t tell a woman what to do with her body” which is fine, I can go along with that but if a woman choses to have a baby on her own then she should take care of it alone. If that was the rule then lets see how many woman would be playing the trap game. You don’t see this mess in other countries. Getting back to gay marriage I still say they can live their lives but just don’t try to mix it with everyone eleses life. There is a reason that it wasn’t legal in the first place and that is because it isn’t suposed to be. You asked “how would gay marriage change my marriage?” First I’m not married, but to answer your question, if I was married it wouldn’t change it at all. I am saying that it waters down the whole perception of marriage when you let any and/or everyone do it. I hear what you are saying about the 14th amendment but that was clearly made before gay marriage came about. Now the 14th amendment needs to be revisited because, in my opinion, that vague amendment can be abused in cases such as this.

1 up the ambiguity in the bill of rights was intended because the framers knew that the nations needs would change, and the constitution needed to be flexible enough to change with the times.  I agree with a lot of what you said about women having children on their own, however I still believe that the perception of marriage has been damaged by heterosexuals and that homosexuals will fair no better or worse than anyone else.  In my my mind, it shouldn’t take suppressing a group of peoples right, for those who have the right to marry to really take a step back and treasure marriage.  However I think we will respectfully have to disagree on this subject.  I just pray that God’s will prevails.  That’s all we can do.

Well said MsMoni… I like your style A LOT

You’re welcome I really appreciate that!

WTF? Wanda Sykes a dyke now that shits funny

What’s most upseting are the astronomical amounts of black gays who are such hypocrits on this issue.

No, what’s really most upsetting is that white people keep using black and gay like they are the same issue. That’s disrespectful and it needs to STOP!!!!

you know what to all those people who are against gay go get a life let them live there life they only have one so stay out of it u sexist assholes

Hey dumb ass, nobody is talking about being against gays. We are talking about being for or against gay marriage. If you learned while your dumb asss was in school you would be able to comprehend what you read stupid.

i love being gay but i would never re marry i came out of a bitter marriage of 14 years married for the children tried to suppress the fact that i was gay big mistake and now just about 2 months i finally came out to my therapist my what a relief it was i finally faced the fact that im gay im border line coming out to two of my sisters

i don’t believe in gay marriges, or think that they should allow it because that was not the plan that god intented for is people. and i think it is full time we start standing up and declaring the kingdom of god in our midst and let the devil knows that he is a loser and he has no power over god’s people. we really can’t blame those people who are gays we just have to pray for them, because we must not forget that the mind is what we use to serve god and if we allow the devil to take over our mind and our thoughts with is rubish we need to declare a fast and get back to the old rugged cross and ask god to deliver us from all evil. the bible said in chronicles 7and verse 14 if my people who are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from thier wicked ways he promises to hear from heaven forgive our sins and heal the land.

I AM A LESBIAN FEMALE WHO STRONGLY DISAGREE TO ANYONE WHO HAS ALOT OF THINGS TO SAY ABOUT HOMOSEXUALS TO DOWN OUR LIFESTYLES WE ARE HUMANS JUST LIKE ANY STRAIGHT PERSON IN AMERICA WE JUST FIND OUR LOVE IN THE SAME SEX.AND I ALSO FEEL LIKE THIS THE ONES UP HERE THAT SO INTO CHURCH AND KNOW WORDING OUT THE BIBLE YOU SO HOLY THAT YOU MUST’VE SKIPPED OVER THE PART NOBODY CAN JUDGE US BUT GOD. OH AND 1 MORE THING(SIN LET ME SEE HAVING CHILDREN AND NOT MARRIED IS A SIN NO ONE STRESSES THE REAL ISSUES IN AMERICA I’M A HARD WORKING AMERICAN CITIZEN PAYING TAXES TO TAKE CARE OF HALF OF THE PEOPLE KIDS THAT DON’T LIKE GAYS EXPLAIN THAT???????????