Pink triangles and barbed wire

[Beestie]

Originally Posted by richlevy

Well, as a heterosexual, I realize that I have more rights than my gay relatives and friends.

What is it you can do that they are not allowed to do?

Originally Posted by richlevy

It just seems that a lot of people are beginning to make it their business to nose into the private behavior of citizens.

Adoption is not private behavior.

I'm not really siding with the Republicans/religious right, etc. but we at least need to come to some kind of agreement as to the problem statement. I think homosexuals should be allowed to lead whatever life they want to and, as consenting adults, I don't think its any of the Fed's or the State's business. But there are quite a few legal questions that are quite sticky when applied to homosexual couples. For example, at what point should the principle of common-law marriage apply to gay couples? What are the consequences of children being raised in gay households? If the state recognizes a gay marraige but the Fed doesn't does that allow the couple to file joint tax returns? Is it truly discriminatory if they don't?

While I don't have the answers, I'm not just going to ignore the collateral questions.

Who knows what a politician's position means? Pandering to the base, taking an empty stand to score points, raise election money, elicit favors from politically expedient allies, take payola from a lobbyist, etc. With politicians, there is only one thing we can be certain of - it is definitely not a stand of principle.