Is gay marriage an issue for you?

[BurtWorm]

[David__77]

1. An obvious, missing option.

Not that I advocate this position, but where is "Yes, and I will only support a candidate who supports marriage equality?"

[BurtWorm]

3. I'll reword choice two.

[GiovanniC]

2. How About

Yes, I support it, and I oppose anyone who opposes it.

I cannot support anyone who would deny rights to a minority in order to pander to the majority.

[Edge]

4. Well...if gay marriage means equal rights...

then yes, it's an issue for me...and I will not support someone who wants to take away rights of certain individuals. I think equal rights for ALL should be an issue for all of us.

[beyurslf]

5. It's an issue only in that I would not support a candidate who

supports the Constitutional Ammendment (none of Dems do) and I would expect my candidate to support Civil Unions and/or marriages.

[MaddogTerp]

6. and Kerry is being backed into a corner on it

by the Bushies. there's no way he can win that issue. with the civil union thing in Vermont, Howie is the only one who can make any political hay on this side of the issue. Bushie will, as usual, dominate the right-wing side of it.

[Brian_Expat]

8. Looks to me like Kerry is rushing to the right on it. . .

. . . considering his promise to "evaluate" and potentially support an amendment "with the right language."

Kinda sad that the Democratic front-runner is to the right of Bob Barr (who opposes an amendment of any sort) on this issue.

[rucky]

9. So how many times are our candidates going to fall into the GOP trap?

And how many times are we going to straddle the fence in our response?

We're on the right side of the arguement. A leader can influence public opinion if they take a strong stance on a wedge issue. We don't have to take the bait wholeheartedly - we should put the issue into perspective (minor to most of America - MAJOR to the gay population) - and defend the minority view. That's what Democrats do. We're the guys who stand up to the playground bully, dammit!

But judging from your avatar, I see you already know (and respect) that.

:)

[IndianaGreen]

26. Kucinich supports the right of gays to get a marriage license

which is really what this issue all about!

What if a state decided to deny teaching licenses to gays?

[mikehiggins]

7. I'm straight as they come and married just about forever.

As far as I'm concerned I don't give a rat's ass if gays can marry or not. It's no threat to me or my marriage, and it isn't going to take money out of my pocket.

On the other hand, I do care very much if people are discriminated against for no good reason.

I also think that if gay couples want to adopt I have no problem with that either. God knows I've watched lots of people around me raise kids. After seeing how fucked up that turned out I have to wonder how much worse could two homosexuals be?

I wouldn't dance for joy if my son or daughter came home and announced they were gay but, like Wes Clark says, they are my kids.
How could I wish anything less for them because they might not be like me?

And prostitute the Constitution to institutionalise a narrow minded, sectarian point of view? Not in my America, dude. I was shocked to read that Kerry even left a door open on the question.

Depends on the language? What a joke.

[utopian]

10. I think anyone should be able to marry

It's really no one else's business, but the republicans are trying to make this a central issue in lieu of the life or death issues that should be at the forefront: the environment, the war, jobs, etc. It's a red herring meant to "unmask" liberals. They know that homophobia runs rampant in this country, and they want to use is to our disadvantage. It's "family values" redux.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

11. The problem isn't the issue, it's the response.

As usual, the "moderates" are calling for the pablum option of saying something like, "I'm for equal rights for all citizens...but..". The rightwingers are seen as decisive on the issue. The Dems are urged to, yet again, be wishy washy.

As for me, I could care less who marries who. My sister in law is a lesbian and has been in the same relationship for over 30 years. About 10 years longer than her sister and I have been married. It's ridiculous that she and her lover shouldn't be afforded the same rights as my wife and I.

[ibegurpard]

12. Yes and No

I'm not asking them to be for it or advocate it but I DO expect them to oppose a CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT BANNING IT!

[evil_orange_cat]

13. I can't support a candidate who stands for discrimination

so if this is true about Kerry, I might as well just vote Bush... :eyes:

[BurtWorm]

15. I don't think Kerry has said anything close to resembling he'd support it.

But what he did say, when asked by NPR if he would support a constitutional amendment outlawing gay marriage was "It depends on the language..." He then went on to say he is in favor of civil unions and the equity for gay and lesbian partners. It's very unfortunate, in my opinion, that he used that phrase to make it seem that he had not decided on how to vote on what is clearly another bullshit Republican ploy to hang Democrats on.

[evil_orange_cat]

16. well, I'll have to pay more attention...

from what I've heard, Kerry seems to be in the Lieberman camp in terms of the gay marriage issue...

[BurtWorm]

17. He just blew an opportunity to sound like an unabashed Democrat.

[Spider Jerusalem]

14. I'm not gay...therefore I really have no right to an opinion.

The question obviously isn't one which affects me personally. So I think it's a bit unseemly of me to presume to speak on the issue in the first place. That said, I can certainly understand the desire of same-sex couples for the legal recognition of a committed relationship our society already affords to heterosexuals; insofar as I can see, this is something which harms no one (save a body of prejudiced individuals whose tender sensibilities will be bruised, that is). One would hope that according of this legal status to same-sex couples would be beneficial in altering society's attitudes to them and eradicating a good deal of remaining anti-gay prejudice, much as advances in civil rights, with integration and affirmative action, have helped to reduce although not eliminate racism in American society. (That might be too optimistic, though.)

[GiovanniC]

18. I Disagree

I'm not gay either, but I have a very strong opinion on this subject (namely that I am wholeheartedly in support of equal rights for ALL, including homosexuals).

And I think, "How would things be different today if the organizers of the Underground Railroad had said, 'I'm not black, I'm not a slave; therefore I have no right to an opinion.'?"

Sometimes we have to make a stand for those who are different from us... in order to ensure a more fair society for everyone, including ourselves.

[ThirdWheelLegend]

22. I'm not a lot of things... does that mean I should not have...

Does that mean I should not have an opinion on Civil rights? I believe this is a civil rights issue. I am not gay either, but I think any civil rights issue affects me personally. Aren't we all human? Why should some humans be denied rights? These people being denied rights are my friends, brothers and sisters. That seems like a personal issue to me.

TWL

[Mairead]

19. It's an issue that even Democrats are calling it "gay marriage" as tho

it were a special right being sought. It's not about creating some special right called "gay marriage", it's about making the institution of marriage available to everyone equally. Equal rights, not special rights.

[Eurobabe]

20. Get the government out of regulating people's lives

This does not deserve to even be an issue.

[Walt Starr]

21. I put it right up there with any other civil rights issues

Reproductive Freedom. Equal access regardless of any factor (race, religion, etc.).

In the grand scheme of things, seperate but equal has never worked in the past and I wonder why so many expect it to work in this case simply because we are talking about sexual orientation as opposed to race.

For the record, I'm an old white man.

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

23. I think the proponents of gay marriage are barking up the wrong tree

so to speak.

If the goal is to allow the benefits of marriage to same sex partnership, this can easily be done through domestic partnership legislation, that is blind to sexual orientation and the genders of the people making the partnership.

If the goal is to "mainstream" acceptance of homosexual relationships, the government is hardly the place to do it. Probably better off fighting it out in the churches. Most people in American do not consider homosexuality to be moral, and you cannot legislate morality.

I for one would like to see marriage defined *out* of civil law to be replaced by domestic partnerships, and leave the religious aspect of it to religious groups.

[election_2004]

24. YES!!!

This is my top issue.

A Democratic candidate must at the very least support civil unions in order to get my vote.

I personally am a huge advocate of same-sex marriage, but I won't rule out voting for a Dem just because he/she doesn't support gay marriage. However, if he/she says "no civil unions," he/she can also forget about getting my vote.

Also, any Democrat who supports or votes for the Federal Marriage Amendment will be permanently on my shit-list.

[IndianaGreen]

25. ABB is trumped by any candidate that opposes equal rights for all!

FMA is the "Hetero Only" equivalent of "White Only"!