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10-18-2014, 03:28 PM

An illustrated poem about same sex marriage... Beautifully crafted.

10-18-2014, 03:30 PM

I dare you to keep a dry eye...

10-18-2014, 03:47 PM

Very nicely done

10-18-2014, 05:07 PM

It was very sweet PA...

BUT....the ceremony aspect of marriage horrifies me but I am just now coming around to the institution of marraige and the after almost 30 years we will be getting married...but only by a court clerk with no fanfare....

BTW.....HI! Nice to see you!

LJay · 10-18-2014, 05:44 PM

Interesting, East. You make me wonder a bit.

Now that it is possible to marry, I am wondering why I would. I have absolutely no prospects. Even the guy at the end of the bar avoids me. I have lived with the knowledge that men's romantic relationships were impossible, and certainly that marriage was out of the question, for so long that I just have trouble with the concept. I am not against it, I just don't have it as part of my outlook. I sometimes wonder if it is not easier for two guys to live together without a contract and to avoid all the legal hassle. I know the stuff about taxes and all that, but it is interesting to me that so many straight couples are not marrying these days and that so many gay couples want to.

Is it just the principle of the thing? Or is the real issue that gay couples simply want to be able to be gay couples without all the finger and chin wagging and ostracism? Is it marriage or acceptance that is the issue?

And to throw a bucket of something at the fundies who insist that gay marriage will break down the family--an institution that our rates of divorce, marital affairs and domestic violence show is not terribly strong anyway--is it possible that the marriage of gays who wish to marry will in fact signal an attitudinal change toward the philandering gay style of social interaction?

What would Andy Rooney say? I'd like to hear.

10-18-2014, 06:10 PM

East Wrote:It was very sweet PA...

BUT....the ceremony aspect of marriage horrifies me but I am just now coming around to the institution of marraige and the after almost 30 years we will be getting married...but only by a court clerk with no fanfare....

BTW.....HI! Nice to see you!

Nice to see you too, my friend. You know, it's strange but I think this idea of being able to get married is quite new to a few of us, since we grew up thinking it would never be a possibility or an issue. We've pretty much 'mentalised' that we would be single (or considered as such) by society until we died. The thing is marriage now makes it legal and possible to leave our nearest and dearest in a potentially better financial and legal situation than before. From civil partnerships to marriage with the full legal rights of such a contract, we are now more fully aware of what we can bequeath to our partners and their or our families. When there are kids involved, it's nice to know that they too will be treated more equally than before.

10-18-2014, 06:18 PM

LJay Wrote:Interesting, East. You make me wonder a bit.

Now that it is possible to marry, I am wondering why I would. I have absolutely no prospects. Even the guy at the end of the bar avoids me. I have lived with the knowledge that men's romantic relationships were impossible, and certainly that marriage was out of the question, for so long that I just have trouble with the concept. I am not against it, I just don't have it as part of my outlook. I sometimes wonder if it is not easier for two guys to live together without a contract and to avoid all the legal hassle. I know the stuff about taxes and all that, but it is interesting to me that so many straight couples are not marrying these days and that so many gay couples want to.

Is it just the principle of the thing? Or is the real issue that gay couples simply want to be able to be gay couples without all the finger and chin wagging and ostracism? Is it marriage or acceptance that is the issue?

And to throw a bucket of something at the fundies who insist that gay marriage will break down the family--an institution that our rates of divorce, marital affairs and domestic violence show is not terribly strong anyway--is it possible that the marriage of gays who wish to marry will in fact signal an attitudinal change toward the philandering gay style of social interaction?

What would Andy Rooney say? I'd like to hear.

What you say LJay is very true, some of us have not been brought up with the idea that we couldn't ever marry a same-sex partner. We have sometimes gone down the route of marrying (or at least dating) the opposite sex, thinking it would make us straight or bring some kind of comfort and consolation, but in the end, we've pretty much understood that the opposite sex thing was not going to make us happy.

I'm sorry to hear that you have no romantic prospect that would ever make you enter into marriage, or at least that you haven't had one so far, but it may happen yet. With mindsets being different, with our mindsets also gradually changing to more acceptance of the concept, and again, depending on local and personal circumstances, there is no reason why some same-sex couples shouldn't enjoy this new right. The next one could be you, and someone similarly inclined. It requires trust and friendship, and love and partnership.

It stands to reason that it's only a new string to our bows, only a new part of the arsenal of contracting one's life to someone else's. Gays can continue to have partnerships, civil or not, date someone and never marry, never make anything official. So can straight people. The real novelty is in the possibility of contracting a marriage with someone who is of the same sex. That's not been possible before and that's why we need to take the idea on board now. The younger generations will think of it as a given, probably.

I suppose our mindset is very much like it was for black people when marriage outside their ethnic group was utterly forbidden. I'm sure it must have taken them a while to get used to this idea of equality.

Similarly, I bet some women didn't quite know what to do with their votes once they were allowed to vote. Obviously those who'd fought for that right probably used it right away, fully aware of the cost in trouble and strife it had brought them.

10-18-2014, 06:49 PM

At 51, I am still a romantic at heart, and one who believe in that magical and unexplainable connection between two people who become totally devoted to one another. Yes, I do believe in lifelong partnership between two men. Unfortunately the institution of a hetero like marriage does not appeal to me at all. I admire more and do prefer a marriage strictly based on love, not on money or financial stability. The few long termed relationships I had were based on a mutual love interest for one another, never on money or financial gains! where are they now? like everything else in life we humans can evolved at different paths at one point of our lives. Nothing is forever not even the worse or happiest of time. The secret is in learning to evolve as an individual, and the day I find someone who respects and accepts my idiosyncrasies as much as I will theirs, is the day I can call it a marriage made in heaven!

10-19-2014, 07:28 AM

Amazing!!

Freedom means that I can do whatever I want to do as long as I don't enfringe upon your rights. You not agreeing or disliking what I do, does not enfringe upon your rights, and has nothing to do with you. So keep to your own business and leave us be.