What is gay marriage about?

I understand why people don't want gay people to marry, but I don't understand why gay people want to marry. What's the point?

 

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Um. It's about gay people getting married.

What is any marriage about? Expression of love. Commitment. Legal rights.

~String

 

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Yeah, but why go through all the trouble? Isn't a civil union pretty much the same thing in terms of legal rights?

I think non-gay people get married because it's what they're supposed to do.

 

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No it isn't. There are thousands of references to the legal state of marriage embodied in our laws. Civil union does not give the same benefits.

 

Well, why does it matter? And, civil unions aren't even available everywhere.

I think you're making unsupported statements based on poor assumptions.

~String

 

Oh, okay then. I wasn't sure.

 

I just don't see what loving someone has to do with being married.

 

it's about medical insurance

 

it's about equal recognition in society, and about equal rights afforded to married couples.

 

It's about getting the same recognition of their relationship as straight people get for theirs.

I don't know why either gay or straight people do it, myself.

You either end up swallowing a whole shitload of hurt and struggling to the make the relationship work, or you get a divorce and then the other person gets to screw you for an arm and a leg.

Yeah, really good idea. I want to do that too, when I'm older.

Maybe I'm just a cynical little fuck...*sigh*...

 

Um. It doesn't Francois. Just like straight people don't need to get married, neither do gay people. It's not about "having to" or "needing". It's about "wanting" and "deserving" the same rights other people have.

~String

 

String,

If civil unions did give all of the same legal rights as marriages (regarding property laws, taxes, et cetera), would you still want to push for full-fledged marriage? Assuming they are available everywhere, of course.

Also, do you think the government should even have a say in who may or may not be married? It could be said that the government should only recognize marriages, instead of administer them; the latter is a private matter, typically where a church is involved thought there are also the Vegas weddings.

 

That's really what I was trying to get at. If the rights and benefits were the same, why would anyone care? It's just a word. Married. Why all the fuss?

Of course, I do understand the fuss, since the benefits aren't the same.

 

The word has certain social implications. Homosexuals should be equal under the law, and so a separate word is like the "separate but equal" philosophy of the segregationists. Separate is inherently unequal.

 

Nobody said separate; just different.

It's like with men and women; we're different but equal.

 

They aren't different.

 

Men and women? Yes they are.

 

But they have the same rights under the law. Which is what gay people are after, and should get.

 

Legally speaking, no they aren't (except on battle fields and in submarines, and those are rare, extreme and specific circumstances).

~String

 

Submarines, why?