I don't consider myself very adept at perceiving the underlying motivations of people, but the arguments against gay marriage are so transparently Ick Factor-motivated that I'm surprised the arguments are not laughed off as just that - a bias against sex that makes them squeamish. I guess most heterosexuals get an "ick" response at the thought of gay sex, so they go along with specious reasoning like that John articulates below.
It reminds me of the tortured arguments of the Dred Scott decisions of the 1850s, when all but one of the Justices went to extreme lengths to justify their decision that Africans were not fully human. It's funny to read queers' responses to thoughts of straight sex. They get creeped out just thinking about stuff we heterosexuals love. I think it was Pauline Kael who observed that there are no generally agreed-upon classics in the realm of porno movies - no "Casablancas" or "It Happened One Nights" - because sex is too personal and idiosyncratic for a wide swath of society to agree on what turns them on. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "authfriend" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "John" <jr_esq@> wrote: > <snip> > > IMO, Proposition 8 is trying to address the religious belief > > of citizens relating to the institution of marriage. > > The government has no business addressing the > religious beliefs of citizens. That's what churches > are for. Allowing same-sex marriages does not mean > requiring churches to perform them (although a lot > of the promotion for Prop. 8 pretended it would in > order to scare people into voting for it). > > They are > > attempting to define the essential fabric of society, and that > > is the family. That starts with the man and the woman who can > > create children for the continuation of mankind and the American > > way of life. > > As I've already pointed out, not all straight marriages > create children; and gay couples are perfectly able to > *nurture* children "for the continuation of [hu]mankind > and the American [as well as any other] way of life]" > just as well as straight couples. > > > Proposition 8 is a repudiation of the concept that marriage > > is solely for sexual indulgence and sensual gratification. > > For gays, this is essentially the basis of their union > > Absolute, total bullshit. Both gays and straights > can and do have all the sexual indulgence they want > whether they're married or not, so obviously that > isn't why they want to get married. > > Gay people fall in love just like straight people do. > They want to marry to make a formal commitment to > each other. Sex is no more (and no less) the "basis" > of their unions than it is for straight people. > > Support for Prop. 8 is grounded in bigotry, and it > fosters discrimination. Not allowing gays to marry > brands them as second-class citizens--and this is > exactly what Prop. 8 proponents want to accomplish. > > Shame on them. >
