Potent Quotables: Rufus on Rights

You guys know Rufus Wainwright is gay, don't you?

i thought your mom was gross, but that didn't stop me from f---ing her.

I am going to have to quote someone on this subject as he or she put this in the best possible way I have ever seen. "I have no problem if someone decides to be in a same sex relationship, that is their choice. Marriage is something completely different though. This is much bigger than just a question of whether or not society should be more tolerant of the homosexual lifestyle. Over past years we have seen unrelenting pressure from advocates of that lifestyle to accept as normal what is not normal, and to characterize those who disagree as narrow-minded, bigoted and unreasonable. Such advocates are quick to demand freedom of speech and thought for themselves, but equally quick to criticize those with a different view and, if possible, to silence them by applying labels like “homophobic.” In at least one country where homosexual activists have won major concessions, we have even seen a church pastor threatened with prison for preaching from the pulpit that homosexual behavior is sinful. Will Religious freedom be trampled if we allow this movement to overcome how the majority of society lives and acts?" Americarocks.
I could not have put this in a better format and truly ask those to think this through without hatred in discussion.

I dont hate straights, I hate their sins as well...we dont have to have, nor need a religeous ceremony, but we damned sure deserve a civil one, its called equal rights and equal protections under the constitution! you do not get to dictate the loving, legal relationships others wish for themselves.

Gay people deserve equal rights to marry, or civil unions, or to not marry if they so choose, same as anyone else has. to the narrow minded bigots and homophobes of the world get over it and get used to it, our day will come soon, gay and lesbian people are not going to take a back seat of the bus for ever!!! personally, I have been together with the same person in a comitted relationship for ten years now, and are more stabile than a lot of straight couples I know of....also we make a very good living together and pay far more in taxes than most straight couples or singles that I know of...of course in Florida we are not allowed to adopt, never mind there are children back logged who will never have a stabile home since the good straight people will not adopt them nor allow us to either, so we pay every year thousands in taxes to send your kids to school. without gays taxes I shudder to think what schools would have in funds, so thank a gay person next time you send your kids off to school!!!

The one thing that really pisses me off is the continual mis-use of the word " normal". There is no carved in stone meaning of what normal is. The true meaning should be; Whatever feels right to you as long as your not hurting others or yourself. Stop using this word to preach your hate and ignorance !!!!

At least this gay man knows that marriage is the joining by God of a man & a woman. God does not approve of something, his word, the bible calls sin. If these gays want to have their own little ceremony to commit to each other- then let them do it. Marriage is legally joining a couple- MAN & WOMAN together. Why do they think they should have the formal joining of marriage by God & our legal system? The more GOd is pushed out of our government, schools etc. the harder times will get. God made Adam & Eve NOT Adam and STEVE!!! I don't hate gays ... I hate their sin.

I'd like to pose three questions that might make for interesting discussion:

1) The basic assumption of the above comments is that marriage is a right - is it? Society denies marriage to consenting siblings and cousins (presumably even if they were willing to bear full responsibility for any genetic risk to their offspring). It denies marriage to three or more consenting adults. It allows states to set their own minimum age for marriage, meaning that, for a given teenager, the exercise of marriage is dependent on his/her geography.
2) Why did society establish the legal (not religious) institution of marriage? It is irrelevant for the State to recognize two peoples' emotions. It is also unnecessary to have marriage for the inheritance of property - we've had wills for centuries. Was there some wider social objective in creating the legal institution of marriage?
3) Should arguments for gay marriage be based on access to the "legal perks" of marriage? Could not those advantages be legislated more effectively individually, rather than being caught up in the gay marriage debate?

I'll be interested to see what people have to say.

Bryan Kirchoff
St. Louis

SORRY, calling something a right does not make it so. There is no "right" to be married in the U.S. Constitution nor is there a "right" to change a social institution that has been defined a certain way for as long as there has been a term "marriage". The definition is one man and one woman- anything else is not and can not be marriage. Sorry.

I cannot believe that noone else has figured out why, sadly, Prop 8 passed. I remember when I was a first time voter. In my enthusiasm, I voted "yes" on everything. We had more first time voters than EVER in history. There should be a redo on this constitutional trashing. More than half of those who voted yes have now changed their minds, due to more information.