Prop. 8 protests could become national movement

Equality for all is vital in our survival as a species, no one is here accidentally and everyone has their own purpose and path in life.  

I don't want to live in a world where that doesn't exist.  Peace.  Thanks for posting.  

((Good Vibes))

Yeah equality! I'm thinking this isn't "could be a national protest" this is a national protest!

Folks are trying to equate gay Marriage with the plight of Blacks in America.  They state it is a constitutional issue that needs to be corrected.  The problem with the equality with blacks was they were not free in a free America.  They were not considered whole due to the constitutional representation be limited by a percentage per each black man.  The Amendments to the constitution that made Black Americans whole came following the civil war.  The constitution does not deal with marriage at all.  It is a stretch to think that the constitution has anything to do with marriage.  To equate their plight with that of blacks is absurd.  Gays have the right to be gay.  Marriage is a religious issue that the government should have never got involved in.  The government should never have legislative authority over a church issue.  Marriage has become a financial issue due to governmental definitions of marriage.

If a church,  based upon their belief system,  allows gay marriage it would have to be accepted by the  Government.  This is why Government should not be involved in religious matters.  I am personally against gay marriage due to my belief based on biblical scriptures.  Here is the thing, can gays see anything in scriptures that allows two men or woman to get married.  That for me is the bottom line scriptural authority from any religious group. 

This whole idea of protests seems to cause more strife between the groups than any ability to change ones heart.  The latest video shows an elderly woman being physically attacked and verbally abused by protesters due to her right to speak out.  Why is it that folks are so abusive in these protests?  What good is being done by protesters.  Wouldn't it be better to fight through the electoral system and the courts?

The constitution guarantees equal protection under the law.  Any individual might oppose gay marriage on religious belief, and that's fine:  but for the state to endorse that view and discriminate among people who simply want the opportunity to love one another is a different thing entirely.  I, personally, felt cut to the core by the passage of Prop 8 in CA and the ballot measures in FL, AZ, and Arkansas:  I feel as though not only my rights as a citizen but my basic humanity was violated in a terrible way.  Some things--the most "sacred", if I may use that word, things about a human person--just should never be put up to majority vote.  It's indecent.  And yes, it must be fought in the courts b/c majorities have never been good at protecting the rights of minorities:  the true test of a democracy is how well a society protects the rights of minorities, not the degree to which it can impose the will of the majority. 

I recommend the Freedom to Marry website to anyone who's genuinely interested, to anyone who (in these contentious times) still has an open heart.  There's a moving piece from South Africa (!), the constitutional amendment there that guarantees the rights of gay and lesbian citizens to marry.  Let me quote a bit of it here.

"The exclusion of same-sex couples from the benefits and responsibilities of marriage was not a small and tangential inconvenience resulting from a few surviving relics of societal prejudice destined to evaporate like the morning dew. It represented a harsh if oblique statement by the law that same-sex couples are outsiders, and that their need for affirmation and protection of their intimate relations as human beings is somehow less than that of heterosexual couples. It signifies that their capacity for love, commitment and accepting responsibility is by definition less worthy of regard than that of heterosexual couples. The intangible damage to same-sex couples is as severe as the material deprivation."

South Africa, within a few years of ending apartheid, got this far?  What's wrong with us? 

It's about civil rights.  It's about human rights.  It's about human dignity.  Most of all, it's about love.  History will judge.

It was important for me and my partner to participate in the protest today. We were one of the 18,000 couples who were married in California and were happy to see so much support here in Mobile, Alabama.

searcy7 has contributed a photo to this story.

There were quite a few people in Pasadena today at City Hall. We heard speakers from All Saints Church and a woman who lived through civil rights fights in the South. Most of the crowd then split off and marched up and down Colorado Blvd. in old town Pasadena. We heard lots of honking in support of the cause.

cass71898 has contributed a photo to this story.

These posters were to be seen everywhere in San Francisco. This one was in the Mission area.

Jimmy_Sav has contributed a photo to this story.

NO ONE SEEMS TO UNDERSTAND THIS ISSUE!!!!

people aren't against gay-marriage.  the problem is that ANY church that refuses to perform a gay-marriage loses ALL tax-benefits.  by making it legal, it is legally destroying any religion that does not change its ideas on the issue.

i knew a lot of people who voted against gay-marriage in CA for that simple reason.  none of them were against homosexuality, or even gay-marriage, it was only about forcing churches to either perform gay-marriage or lose all tax-benefits.

this is not about gay-marriage at all !!!!!

this is about churches who refuse to perform gay-marriage losing all tax-benefits...

making gay-marriage legal would destroy almost every church in CA.

i know a lot of people who voted against gay-marriage who have no problem with homosexuality or gay-marriage at all.... it was only about their own church losing tax-benefits because they refuse to perform any themselves.

It was a national protest.  Boston sends its support to California!

A peaceful protest against Proposition 8 (or as we like to call it, "Proposition Hate") at the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta on Saturday, November 15th, 2008. Another protest was held later that afternoon at Outwrite Books & Nickiemoto's at the corner of 10th & Piedmont.

dougsturgess has contributed a photo to this story.

Regardless of whether or not the government should/shouldn't have gotten involved with marriage, it did.  Therefore, marriage is a legal matter now, not a religious one. There are many important legal benefits/rights that go along with marriage that are not included in civil unions/domestic partnerships. According to the 14th Amendment in the United States Constitution:
“All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the
jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein
they reside. 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.”

Though it can be extremely difficult at times, I try to have compassion for the religious ones. It's not their fault, they are doing the best they can. They were born with the disadvantages of having low IQ's, and the inability to think logically and intelligently. (Check it out at www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2111174/Intelligent-people-'less-likely-to-believe-in-God'.html or www.vexen.co.uk/religion/intelligence.html

Churches will not lose their tax benefits for refusing to perform gay marriages. Right now, they don't lose their tax benefits for refusing to marry divorced people, or interfaith couples, or between people who refuse to undergo a 6-week counseling class. Any church, any minister gets total autonomy about who they will and will not perform religious rites for.

There are STATE officials who may lose their jobs if they refuse to perform some marriages, but no church or minister will lose their tax status for this reason. The idea that they will, is a smokescreen to hide how scared some churches are that some of their members will *want* same-sex marriages, and will leave the church to get them.

I am personally against gay marriage due to my belief based on biblical scriptures.

Are you for slavery, due to your belief based on biblical scriptures? Slaves are clearly endorsed and encouraged in the bible; there's even advice on how to be a good Christian slave or a good Christian master.

We don't see things as 'they are'

We see things as "we are" 

Say no to hate in our world.