Logan Darklighter Wrote:I think I should add the following to what I said above:So some people should be denied their rights until other people "get comfortable" with the idea? It isn't up to society to "get comfortable" with equal rights - it's up to society to give people equal rights even if it makes a small part of that society uncomfortable. The bigots will always find an excuse to deny equality to the people they dislike - why should we cater to the bigots?
I don't suggest we stop trying to get actual gay marriage after we get all individual rights. I don't suggest that at all. What I'm suggesting is that - once people see that giving LGBT the same individual rights that typically fall under the banner of traditional marriage and that doing so is no threat, then give them a few years to get used to the idea. Get comfortable with it. Then get them to start wondering why, if they have all the same things that a straight married couple does, what would it hurt to give them that last measure?
Also, consider:
"Oh, Johnny, we aren't ready to let you drive a car yet. We'll get you a bicycle for now, and if that doesn't cause any problems then we'll let you ride a scooter, and after a couple of years - and if there haven't been any problems - then we'll think about maybe letting you get a driver's licence."
What kind of person do you tell that to? A child, that's who.
"Oh, Johnny, we aren't ready to let you marry another man yet. We'll get you hospital visiting rights for now, and if that doesn't cause any problems then we'll let you file joint tax returns, and after a couple of years - and if there haven't been any problems - then we'll think about maybe letting you get a marriage licence."
It's the exact same thinking. People who have a sexual orientation that doesn't happen to match the one I have are not children - they're just different from me. Why should they have to wait until somebody else is ready to treat them like the adults they are in order to enjoy the same rights that I enjoy?
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012