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Re: Portman. For those members against gay marriage:

Against SSM? If family member came out to you, would you change your mind?

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Gina

Gina

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Re: Portman. For those members against gay marriage:

In light of Rob Portman's change of heart regarding gay marriage, if your son/daughter/brother/sister came to you and told you they were gay, would you, could you see yourself changing your stance?
 
Re: Portman. For those members against gay marriage:

If I was against gay marriage, sure. But I'm not.
 
Re: Portman. For those members against gay marriage:

My friend's parents didn't change their minds. He came out 5 years ago (to them...his friends and sister had known for almost 4 years at that point), and while they love him and accept him, and even invite his partner over for family events...they wouldn't advocate for the legalization of gay marriage.

I've never opposed gay marriage, but I also never bought the idea that religion owned marriage, which is where some of the issue lies from my observation.
 
Re: Portman. For those members against gay marriage:

tessaesque said:
My friend's parents didn't change their minds. He came out 5 years ago (to them...his friends and sister had known for almost 4 years at that point), and while they love him and accept him, and even invite his partner over for family events...they wouldn't advocate for the legalization of gay marriage.

I've never opposed gay marriage, but I also never bought the idea that religion owned marriage, which is where some of the issue lies from my observation.
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At the least, they didn't ostracize him. One of my son's friends was basically kicked out of his home by his mother, dad was ok with it, when he came out before high school graduation. He left town the day after commencement and hasn't been home since. He's a terrific kid. One any parent would be proud of, so it broke my heart.

Your friend's parents may not advocate, but at least they didn't do that.

I agree, the issue lies in religion and that's a hard leap for some people to make, if ever.
 
Re: Portman. For those members against gay marriage:

I'd be more okay with someone else's SSM than I would a child of mine. I'd still love them, but I don't think it'd be appropriate to invite them to certain family gatherings.
 
Gipper said:
I'd be more okay with someone else's SSM than I would a child of mine. I'd still love them, but I don't think it'd be appropriate to invite them to certain family gatherings.
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If you dress like your avatar at family gatherings I think your the one who shouldn't be around kids.
 
Re: Portman. For those members against gay marriage:

Marriage should NEVER be a political issue and especially not at the federal level.
 
Re: Portman. For those members against gay marriage:

Changing your view regarding an entire demographic because of one family member is not impressive to me, though I'm sure this is common. In fact, acceptance of SSM has go up almost alongside the number who know they have close gay friends/family. You shouldn't have to be slapped across the face with it to have empathy though. Still, it's how progress works I guess.
 
Re: Portman. For those members against gay marriage:

Dang, chose the wrong option. I said never, but I have a couple close family members who are gay and it still doesn't change my mind. Of course they aren't pro-SSM either.
 
Re: Portman. For those members against gay marriage:

Gipper said:
I'd be more okay with someone else's SSM than I would a child of mine. I'd still love them, but I don't think it'd be appropriate to invite them to certain family gatherings.
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I'm really surprised. Not what I would have expected you to say from your interactions on this forum. Just from that statement, it would seem to me that you think you'd be embarrassed to have them at certain family gatherings. You don't strike me as the type of person who cares what anyone thinks. (In a good way, not a bad one.) Interesting.
 
Re: Portman. For those members against gay marriage:

MaggieD said:
I'm really surprised. Not what I would have expected you to say from your interactions on this forum. Just from that statement, it would seem to me that you think you'd be embarrassed to have them at certain family gatherings. You don't strike me as the type of person who cares what anyone thinks. (In a good way, not a bad one.) Interesting.
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Well if it was just me, I'd be fine with it. And in general I don't care what anyone thinks of me, but I tend to be a pacifist by nature and I don't really like arguments, fighting, or hostility. Couple that with the fact that the vast majority of my family (both sides) are conservative southern Christians, I just know that the air in a family gathering with an openly gay family member that brought their same-sex partner around would be bad. My uncle, who is dead now, was gay and my grandmother - to this day (he died from AIDS in '96) - refuses to believe it. He left small town Alabama and went to Atlanta where he lived with a man who she will swear up and down is just a roommate (for several years). Then you can meet my grandpa, the former Klansman. He's a hoot.

Can you see why I juuuuuuuuuuuust might prefer they make alternate plans on family get-together days?
 
Re: Portman. For those members against gay marriage:

Gipper said:
I'd be more okay with someone else's SSM than I would a child of mine. I'd still love them, but I don't think it'd be appropriate to invite them to certain family gatherings.
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Why because your outfit is inappropriate for guests? After all your gender is designated as male. A bikini is not too conservative for a libertarian, or any man, if you ask me.

Your child would be the same tomorow as they were yesterday. The only changes would be in your heart and mind.
 
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Re: Portman. For those members against gay marriage:

Lutherf said:
Marriage should NEVER be a political issue and especially not at the federal level.
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It should if it means denying others that right.
 
Re: Portman. For those members against gay marriage:

clownboy said:
Dang, chose the wrong option. I said never, but I have a couple close family members who are gay and it still doesn't change my mind. Of course they aren't pro-SSM either.
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That's important to remember--not everybody who's gay supports SSM.
 
Re: Portman. For those members against gay marriage:

nota bene said:
That's important to remember--not everybody who's gay supports SSM.
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For anyone who is comfortable about their sexuality, I find that hard to believe.
 
Re: Portman. For those members against gay marriage:

Gina said:
In light of Rob Portman's change of heart regarding gay marriage, if your son/daughter/brother/sister came to you and told you they were gay, would you, could you see yourself changing your stance?
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Nope...but I already support SSM
 
Re: Portman. For those members against gay marriage:

zstep18 said:
For anyone who is comfortable about their sexuality, I find that hard to believe.
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Believe it. Gay people aren't a monolith.
 
Re: Portman. For those members against gay marriage:

zstep18 said:
It should if it means denying others that right.
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Maybe this is a dumb question but if marriage taken out of the political equation then how the hell could it be construed as denying anyone anything?

Here's my take on the subject. I'm against gay marriage. I don't care if you're gay and whether you are gay or not has no bearing on my perception of you as a fellow human being unless you choose to make it an issue.

Marriage is a spiritual union and if the Lutherans want to embrace such unions and the Catholics don't then that's their issue, not mine but once the government jumps into the mix it automatically becomes my problem because millions of jackasses on both side of the discussion can't seem to manage not to make it some kind of rallying point for their "cause".

We've got economic problems and national security problems and immigration problems that are all things that government SHOULD be focusing on but we can't seem to get those addressed because Doris the Dyke and Holy Scripture Hank keep on voting for people based on some stupid platform that shouldn't even be there in the first place.
 
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Re: Portman. For those members against gay marriage:

zstep18 said:
Okay, so they're probably an extreme minority. So what?
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I don't know what--you're the one who responded to my post. I was responding to someone other than you.
 
Re: Portman. For those members against gay marriage:

nota bene said:
I don't know what--you're the one who responded to my post. I was responding to someone other than you.
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You said that it was important to remember that not everyone who is gay supports SSM. Why is it important to remember?
 
Re: Portman. For those members against gay marriage:

zstep18 said:
You said that it was important to remember that not everyone who is gay supports SSM. Why is it important to remember?
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Because people are unique individuals, not merely representatives of a group. What, didn't want to look up "monolith"?
 
Re: Portman. For those members against gay marriage:

nota bene said:
Because people are unique individuals, not merely representatives of a group. What, didn't want to look up "monolith"?
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Yeah, I know what 'monolith' means. No need to be condescending.

If a few people, who are gay, oppose gay marriage, that's fine. However, a great majority of those who are gay obviously favor marriage.

There are those 'few' in all equal rights movements who favor the status quo.
 
Re: Portman. For those members against gay marriage:

zstep18 said:
Yeah, I know what 'monolith' means. No need to be condescending.

If a few people, who are gay, oppose gay marriage, that's fine. However, a great majority of those who are gay obviously favor marriage.

There are those 'few' in all equal rights movements who favor the status quo.
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I didn't intend to be condescending; I just wanted you to stop hounding me when I wasn't even talking to you and when you clearly want to minimize facts you don't like by using the term "extreme minority."
 
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