Strollerderby

here in austin there was a cute little boy named Mason who spoke about his two moms. it was very moving and just completely awesome!! equality for all!

Just to be clear upfront, I am not commenting on whether or not Prop 8 should or should not have passed.  Nonetheless, it is confusing and a bit frustrating to hear how the voice of the people was heard and that hope won with the election of Barack Obama, but that the voice of the people should be overturned with the passage of Prop 8.  It sounds very much like the only time the voice of the people is a good thing is when it goes the way that the liberal wing of the Democratic Party wants.  It sounds very much like a segment of this country wants to have their cake and eat it too.

I think the issue here, Anonimom, is that it's not constitutional (or even fair) to vote on someone's basic rights. The way I see it, we are not providing equal rights for same-sex couples because they pay the same taxes the rest of us do, but do not have the freedom to get married.

It is wrong of us to decide who gets certain rights and who doesn't. If the state of Georgia decided to vote segregation back, would that be right?  No. We have no right to deny other people the rights that they are entitled to.

Also: I would wager (and I'll put money on it, for real, if anyone wants) that in another ten years, the majority of Americans WILL want gay marriage to be legal. Younger generations are becoming more and more liberal, and homophobia is rapidly going the way of the dinosaurs.

NEW YORK — Elton John, accompanied by his longtime partner, David Furnish, had some choice words about California's Proposition 8, the ban on same-sex marriage that passed on Nov. 4.

In December 2005, John and Furnish tied the knot in a civil partnership ceremony in Windsor, England. But, clarified the singer, "We're not married. Let's get that right. We have a civil partnership. What is wrong with Proposition 8 is that they went for marriage. Marriage is going to put a lot of people off, the word marriage."

John and Furnish, and their two cocker spaniels, Marilyn and Arthur, were in town for Tuesday's annual benefit for the Elton John AIDS Foundation.

"I don't want to be married. I'm very happy with a civil partnership. If gay people want to get married, or get together, they should have a civil partnership," John says. "The word 'marriage,' I think, puts a lot of people off.

"You get the same equal rights that we do when we have a civil partnership. Heterosexual people get married. We can have civil partnerships."

Just me--hate people using their kids a sockpuppets for very adult political disputes. A lot of people were offended by the anti-8 commercial with the little schoolgirl, but what abour parents shoving small children into the spotlight: "now tell everyone why you need your mommies to be married." Whatever the issue (gay marriage, immigration, vaccination, homeschooling), kids should be sheltered from the public battles, not tossed into the middle of them to curry sympathy for activist parents.

Poor Kids, or maybe the kids have an honest opinion about wanting their parents to be able to be married and not be victims of discrimination? I just love how bigots describe people fighting for basic civil rights as "activists".

Treespeed;  It is sad that you use the word bigot out of context, I have seen no bigotry in any thread post.

As for using children, I agree with Poor kids. No one should use their child for political gain, a child does not understand anything but what their parents tell them. My children wanted to know who I voted for so they could vote the same. Children are puppets until they reach an age to make their own decisions. It is terrible to do that to a child to gain sympathy for the cause......what ever that might be.

Yeah -- how could kids POSSIBLY have an opinion on whether or not their parent should be married or not?  No kid has EVER had a passionate position there!  Nope, all just puppets of the EVIL LEFT booga booga booga zzzzzzzz... OMG, wake me up when you wingnuts get the faintest clue.

Sure, kids have opinions, and parents should encourage them to learn and express themselves about social issues. HOWEVER, there is a big difference between that and putting children in front of audiences/cameras/microphones to act as public advocates for their parents. Public battles are for adults only, and dragging kids into them is selfish and irresponsible.