Cheers filled San Francisco’s City Hall shortly after 5 p.m., Monday night, as longtime lesbian activists Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin, partners for more than 50 years, began their second wedding – and their first legal union.
Lyon, 83, and Martin, 87, were the first couple married four years ago when Newsom told the county clerk’s office to start offering marriage certificates to same-sex couples. Eventually more than 4,000 same-sex couples were married in San Francisco that year, but those unions were later nullified by the court. Today, the couple, and dozens of others, had their first chance to make their unions truly legal…
“This is an extraordinary moment in history and extraordinary moment in time” Newsom said to the crowd. “They are extraordinary people who have lived extraordinary lives and spent half a century fighting for justice and equality…”
Luong Do, who said he drove up from San Jose, held a giant sign that read, “homo sex is a threat to national security.”
Others were there to support the pending nuptials. One man strummed a guitar and sang “Going to the Chapel,” while Kathryn Werhane threw rose petals on some of the protesters.
Of course, there still are those who think second-class citizenship is OK – for someone else. Someday, their children and grandchildren may forgive them. It’s the “Christian” thing to do. Right?
I’ll admit that the whole “gay marriage” movement has been wrong from the start.. if a couple wants to get married, all they have to do is find gay-friendly congregation and minister that will marry them. and as far as anyone is concerned, they will be married.
So all these bans on gay marriage isn’t about “protecting marriage” at all.. It’s just using the veil of religion to justify discrimination.
What effect will this have on green card scams where someone marries someone just to become a citizen or stay in the country?
#58 – Potato Head
>>Go throat some more cock
Oohh! You even know the special homosexual lingo. It’s clear that you have studied this issue with great diligence! So knowledgeable in that domain!
Having said that, why don’t go fuck yourself and let other people do whatever they want to do as long as it has no effect on you and your ilk.
Yeah, I’m the hater. HAW!
Marriage itself is unnatural. There are few animals (and primates are not one) that mate for life.
So mating for life is NOT the norm.
Cursor_
People- whatever you you do, DO NOT allow yourself to imagine the two oldsters in the picture making love.
Don’t let it happen.
Also try not to imagine, say, Madonna and Rosie O’Donnel doing the same thing.
Or Howard Stern and Don Imus.
#74–Mustard==your second point against Cursor is right on the money. I hope that totally fallacious argument can leave this thread if not Cursor’s brain?
#69–HMyers==interesting point I hadn’t heard of before. I wonder if domestic partnerships were allowed to import that variety of meat? I doubt it. With the “full” status of marriage, there will be no doubt about it.
As I remain 50/50 split on the legal issue of the status of marriage, I am just a little bit ashamed to admit allowing my emotions to react against the hate and stupidity expressed by the anti-gay marriage group here. If you assholes are against it, how can I be?
Mustard, last I checked gays had the same right to marry a woman as I do.
Huzzah! Gays have won the right to pay higher taxes and lose half of what they own to the lawyers when they break up!
This is redefining marriage to accommodate a lifestyle. Again, why shouldn’t polygamy be allowed? And how about pedophilia, which is more analagous?
>>Mustard, last I checked gays had the
>>same right to marry a woman as I do.
Lyin’ Mike, you’re trolling again. “Gay” is a generic term that generally includes homosexual men AND WOMEN.
So SOME gays may have the right to marry a woman as you do, but ~50% of them do not.
>>This is redefining marriage to accommodate
>>a lifestyle.
No, Lyin’ Mike, it’s not. Marriage was never “defined” in a legal sense in the first place. Everybody just used to do it one way, and then things changed over time.
Bans on gay marriage, well now THAT is truly redefining marriage to accomodate a lifestyle; a lifestyle of hatemongering, xenophobia, and intolerance.
There is no ban on gay marriage. Marriage is the union of a man and a woman, regardless of whether the man is ‘gay’ or the woman is ‘gay’.
#81, Lyin’ Mike,
Marriage is the union of a man and a woman, regardless of whether the man is ‘gay’ or the woman is ‘gay’.
Except in California, Massachusetts, Canada, and several forward looking European countries. Coming soon to a State near you.
Look Mike, some 45 years ago the song was The Times They are a Changing. Get with the program. A person’s sexuality is biological. It is NOT a lifestyle choice.
#12 Tsk, Tsk, disappointing.
I came here looking for logical and/or interesting views. Believe it or not, I even considered posting a serious question!
Alas, mostly what I’ve found are bullies, foul-mouthed accusations, and dreadful name-calling.
ARE you adults? DO you hear yourselves? I don’t care WHICH side of the issue you’re on, right, left, far right, far left, or balancing the tightrope, most of you sound like nasty, hateful people who take joy and pleasure in insulting and hurting other people!
Heaven help us if the majority behave as you do (or at least, as you present yourselves here – I wonder if in “real” life you’d be so vicious and rude – and if so, it’s too bad you are a member of society), because nothing will ever be solved, and the world will never have peace – not even a little bit.
Consider your words. Would you be proud if your parents heard them? Your 4-year-old niece? Your favourite teacher of all time?
To those on the “right”:
Yeh, way to go! You certainly know how to show care and consideration of others. (I hope you can hear my dripping sarcasm.) If you want to begin to improve society, look at yourself, and what YOU can do. Homosexuals want marriage to be legal for them. Many things that are morally depraived are legal, and what are you doing about it? When’s the last time you were crying out for adultry to be considered criminal? And, if you go for the religious sort of thing, how much of the “love of Jesus” are you showing, not only here, but in your everyday lives? How many homosexual friends do you have? “Oh I wouldn’t have a friend like THAT!” you may think. Well, open your eyes and see the Jesus who sat and visited with the prostitutes, the tax collectors, and almost any other social outcast he could get his hands on! No, he didn’t agree with their lifestyle, but what did that have to do with anything? Do you have ANY friends with whom you totally, utterly agree with 100% of the time? If so, maybe you should have a greater variety of friends – and you’ll be surprised at how much more interesting and fun you life becomes! Go ahead, disagree all you want. You’re allowed to! You’ve got free speech! But keep in mind that how you express your opinions says much more about your own morallity than someone else’s. Whatever you have to say, smarten up and say it with respect!
To those on the “left”:
Okay, you want the right to marry. Could you please go about legalizing same-sex marriage in a manner unlike a toddler having an all-out, screaming, punching, kicking tantrum on the floor? Guess what!? There will ALWAYS be people who disagree with you. Smarten up and treat those who do with a bit of respect. Believe it or not, most adults, when being confronted in a nasty, holier-than-thou attitude, realizes that no matter what they say, the fanatic will not, can not understand, so the adult just turns and walks away. My brother, who is very religious and tends to teeter on that line of homophobia, when he heard about a male gay couple being attacked in our city, took one of his ultra-guy friends (stereotypical hunting, 4-wheeling, “be a man” type of guy), went downtown, and they walked around holding hands, just hoping that whoever had attacked the first couple would DARE attack them, so they could “teach them a lesson about respect.” Now, I don’t approve his methods, but, believe it or not, there are A LOT of people out there who are utterly against gay marriage, but when push comes to shove, if you were getting beat up for being gay, they’d jump in and fight WITH you! Try to keep THAT in mind when you’re tempted to tear into some “homophobe” who is a “hate monger!” For all you know, he/she could have become the best friend you ever had (besides your partner… if you happen to have one…). But the more you yell names and insult, the less respect you will be given, and the more hate you will see.
Do I sound like a lecturing schoolmarm? It’s probably because I AM one! Everyday I deal with filthy-mouthed kids screaming curses at each other. I tear bullies off victims. I detain “victims” because I catch them DELIBERATELY baiting the bullies, calling more abuse on themselves. I try desperately to convince them that kindness, respect, and manners still matter. But then I hear/read/see “adults” behaving like that, and worse, and I’m not surprised they don’t believe me.
Why are kids so bratty? Nasty? Disrespectful? Demanding? Spoiled?
Because that’s what they are taught… by the adults in their lives… by YOU!
#84, the Mrs,
Alas, mostly what I’ve found are bullies, foul-mouthed accusations, and dreadful name-calling.
So what is your point?
YOU want to treat us as children. Forget it. Your whole condescending attitude is out of line. If you don’t like the discussion then don’t stick around. In other words, if you can’t handle the heat, get out of the kitchen.
The deal is, I won’t go to your church and tell the congregation how to conduct themselves or even suggest who to pray to. I won’t go to your classroom and tell you how to teach or what subjects are allowed. I won’t follow you into the Supermarket and tell you which vegies to buy or the limit on your Pork Rinds. You don’t come on this blog and tell us how or what we may write.
I disagree with many regulars here at DU. I do recognize that they have a right to be heard, no matter how silly, stupid, ignorant, biased, out of touch, or unreasonable they are. Sometimes I disagree vociferously and extremely. Often the other side reciprocates. (that they are usually wrong is beside the point) Sometimes the heat goes pretty high. And the sun rises the next morning in the East.
By the way, if you are a teacher, and Sunday School doesn’t count, I would have expected a better writing style. Your attitude about your students suggest you are a bully yourself. You plainly either don’t have children of your own or they are abused to no end.