As a completely heterosexual man, I just want to say...

[a_random_joel]

how happy I am for the couples in SF. At first, I was only supporting the civil union thing, from an equal rights perspective. But now, after seeing the joy, happiness and love everyone up there is experiencing, even if only for a temporary period of time - I just have to say that I now FULLY support gay marriage.

Who the hell am I to tell someone else what to do with their lives? Are they hurting anyone? How the hell does it affect MY commitment and MY love for my wife?

When I told my wife: in sickness and in health, till death do us part, that was my bond to her, and NO ONE can break, dampen or cheapen that. If folks who regularly run around on their spouses are not a threat to my marriage, why whould gay couples threaten it?

In a nation of 50% + divorce and infidelity rates, perhaps the heteros need to worry more about their own marriages.

People need to learn to mind their own damned business!

[salinen]

1. We must defend the church!

God says "NO" I've never listened to god in my life, because I think he's a bigot.

[DenverDem]

2. The Church does not speak for God.

They are actually a front for the other guy.

[demnan]

5. I think that's a good one!

[salinen]

8. Man Denver

As an Atheist I sometimes entertain that same thought. It poetically explains everything.

[a_random_joel]

3. This shouldn't be about religion either way.

If you DO believe in God, then you should understand that God loves all his children.

Besides, aren't pedophilic priests a little more of a priority for the Church to worry about?

If you don't believe in God it shouldn't really matter anyway.

[arcane1]

14. and a liar

but that's for another thread :)

[ewagner]

4. I was also moved by what I saw.

Even if the marriages are eventually overturned, the couples experienced a moment of joy that can never be taken away.

[Lindsey]

7. Thanks for the support :-)

I'm a lesbian and the article of Plaid Adder is excellent regarding this whole issue. Whatever happened to the Republican tennant of state's rights?

[SpaceCatMeetsMars]

10. I know, who could look at people being in love and not be happy

for them? Then I was flipping channels the other night and I came across O'Reilly and that Judge whats-his-name character with the weird hairline, and they were practically spitting in fury about it, so full of hate. How dare people want to be equal!

[terrya]

6. Thank you, my friend. You are an sane, supportive voice.

With good people like you, gay marriage will happen. Straight people will ultimately see that gay marriage is moral and right.

Terry

[Beetwasher]

9. Nobody Has The Right

to tell others how to define their personal relationships or to force their religious morality on other people. End of story. This shit really pisses me off.

The repubs want to deny only certain people their right to freedom and pursuit of happiness. What else needs to be said? Anyone who supports a ban on gay marriage is a traitor to the principles this country was founded upon and should be treated as such.

If you are personally against gay marriage, fine, don't be in one, talk about it all you want, but don't force your views on others. If a church doesn't want to marry gay people, that's fine too. That's their perogative and no one would force them too. However, if a church DOES want to marry gay people and is fine with it, why is it anyone's business but the people who belong to that church and the people getting married? What if my religion says gay marriage is ok? Are they going to deny my right to religious freedom?

[BiggJawn]

11. Isn't it?

I too, was touched by the joy I heard in the voices of those in 'Frisco. Lucky people, I'm jealous!
Even if it is only for a DAY, before the Gropenator's minnions reverse things, a DAY of happiness, knowing that you've acheived what others tried so hard to make sure you never experienced, is worth it.

"But they're gonna be overturned..."

Yeah, most likely, but for TODAY, this WEKK, they're valid, and those people are MARRIED.
I'm happy for them!

[DuctapeFatwa]

12. It is especially moving to see so many elderly couples as newlyweds

The very first couple to get married have been together for over 50 years. Since then every time CNN covers it I see these older couples that look to be in their 60s and 70s.

This gets my vote for Most Romantic Footage Related to a News Story.

:grouphug:

[lovedems]

13. Me too. It was heart warming to see the happiness that was

abounding from the couples. If we all had the ability to smile that much and spread that much love, our world would be a far better place.

More power to the people and I hope our country does what is right.

[Logansquare]

15. The older couples really got to me, especially

There were two women who had been together for over 50 years! And a man flew in from another state because his parents had been married at San Francisco City Hall during WWII. You have to have a heart of stone to not be moved.

[foreigncorrespondent]

16. Thank you!

Thank you for taking the timr to share with us, your change of heart. It truly is nice to know that the efforts Gavin Newsom is making are actually having an affect on at least one person.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

[Plaid Adder]

17. As a completely homosexual woman,

I want to thank you for starting this thread. I told my partner about her post and it really cheered her up.

People who have taken marriage for granted don't understand how much it means to us. Even if those marriages in SF don't hold up in the long run, at least this has given people a demonstration of what it would really mean.

C ya,

The Plaid Adder

[kayell]

18. Thank you

I had been very discouraged earlier today by (just a few really) those DUers who just don't seem to understand why this is so important. It is really nice to hear from someone who fully gets it. You are restoring a lot of my faith in the people here.

[PVnRT]

19. Same here

It's kind of interesting that people argue that gay marriage will erode the sanctity of marriage, yet there are gay couples waiting in line for hours at a time, camping overnight, just to do something that most straight couples take for granted. Interesting.