He proposed to me and I said no

[gilhooly]

I'm sorry you broke up. My friend Tom and I fell madly in love in 1968. No one had heard the word "gay" let alone gay marriage. I envy younger guys who have more choices than Tom or I did.

I hope gays not only marry, I hope they adopt.

Good luck in the future. I hope you find Mr. Right!!!!!

[Anonymous]

We did not break up. We're still together and I hope we'll be together, we just have something like an argument about this.

[EvenOlderButWiser]

Wait...that confused me. You don't support it, but you do?

In the UK we have two types of legal recognition for same sex couples.

We have Civil Partnership, which gives you all the legal benefits accorded to straight couples when they get married. We have had this for about 8 years.

We also have the right to get married (in the eyes of God, inside a church, with a full religious ceremony) which is still relatively new within the UK. That Im not particularly supportive of as I don't see what, if any, additional benefits it brings to a same sex couple.

ObW
X

[CellarDweller]

We have Civil Partnership, which gives you all the legal benefits accorded to straight couples when they get married. We have had this for about 8 years.

We also have the right to get married (in the eyes of God, inside a church, with a full religious ceremony) which is still relatively new within the UK. That Im not particularly supportive of as I don't see what, if any, additional benefits it brings to a same sex couple.

Well that's the difference between the UK and us here in the US. Some states have civil unions, but they are not equal to marriages, there are differences.

[Pix]

In the UK we have two types of legal recognition for same sex couples.

We have Civil Partnership, which gives you all the legal benefits accorded to straight couples when they get married. We have had this for about 8 years.

We also have the right to get married (in the eyes of God, inside a church, with a full religious ceremony) which is still relatively new within the UK. That Im not particularly supportive of as I don't see what, if any, additional benefits it brings to a same sex couple.

ObW
X

I've always thought the ceremony and marriage of wedding should be different, but here in the States we have separation of church of state (at least in theory, in actuality the UK probably enjoys that more than we do). In short, marriage the contract should be available to anyone whose available to legally sign a contract, and atheists get married without the benefit of clergy all the time.

The ceremony, OTOH, would be a separate affair, and if it's binding then it's so with the divine and/or supernatural world (heck, I could see atheists having some fun with wedding ceremonies without any religious meaning, similar to Christmas), and would be completely outside the realm of the government (just as the secular contract of marriage in the eyes of the law would be completely outside the realm of the church). In case it needs to be said, not all Christians would be against marrying gays, and we have more religions than that, some known to be gay friendly.

And while I'm at it:

[Bowyn Aerrow]

Legally if you can do marriage it will save you hella money buying your legal right to everything such as the right to visit him in hospital, or the legal right for him to make medical choices while you are in the ER unconscious.

Right to inherit if one of you should die, I Understand that states with marriage laws now have joint tax filing with deductions, the Feds are doing something like that now as well.

Marriage - legal marriage, gives you kudos and makes it a lot easier. Trust me, with my last partner I spent a lot of time at attorney shelling out books to have basic protections under the law.

[princealbertofb]

Well that's the difference between the UK and us here in the US. Some states have civil unions, but they are not equal to marriages, there are differences.

The same applies to France. Marriage and PACS (Pacte Civil de Solidarité) are/ were not equal types of contracts.

[Ryocchi]

Coming from a home with 40+ years married parents with a happy and healthy relationship to me marriage is a big deal, more than anything is telling my partner "I choose you, because i believe in us, because i love you with an strength I never thought possible, because in every fiber of my body I know I'll never meet someone like you, because you complete me, you're the one, and even if there's a world of terrifying possibilities ahead, I want to believe in us, so I want to take that risk, I want to try to spend the rest of my life with you, you're the person I want to present to God as my soulmate."

I'm not trying to persuade you, I just want to to try to see how it may be for him and based on that sit and talk to him, do an effort and even if he clamps at first keep talking tell him you know how it feels for him and you know he meant good and hen slowly without raising voiced explain each one of your reasons, tell him that you feel so guilty and awful and together, reach an agreement.

[TimeSage]

Yes, he had prepared for this and he told me he was upset by my refusal. However, as hard as I may try, I don't see any benefit of marrying.

I can think of a big one. If he were say, in a car accident, his family could bar you from visting him at the hosptial.

You'll also save a ton of money on taxes.

There are alot of LEGAL Benifits to getting married. Even if you don't have a wedding or wear a ring, fileing the paperwork will make your life simpler if you want to stay with him.

[Keith]

Show him your love. He prepared so much to propose and ask you to marry him, which means he wants you. Maybe he is afraid of losing you, so he uses marriage to tie you and him up so that you can not leave him or love others easily. I think you`d better believe that your relationship would last long enough, maybe forever. Do not be so realistic and destroy his romance.