There was a huge uproar from the religious right when Canada legalized it but once the next major news item hit the papers gay marriage was quickly forgotten. Gay men and women now get married in Canada without anyone batting an eye and funny enough the world hasn't ended. *LOL*
4bidden, do you know if a majority of Canadians favored recognizing marriage of a same sex couple at the time the legislation was passed? It's my impression that a majority of Americans oppose it. Still, some states permit it, as I understand it, making it hard for the others to hold the line against it. I've met same sex married people, married in the UK, where it's allowed. It didn't seem to make that much difference to us, or our friends: we made a fuss over their wedding pictures, just as we would have with another couple, in the same situation. There's something very generous in being willing to let others live their lives as they see fit, and I like thinking I can do that, when the situation calls for it. ____________________ Brewster, I don't think he bothered. He just let them get on with it, until someone had the nerve to speak to him about it, in which case, he made it clear that it was her choice, and he supported her in it. By doing so, he was, as I saw it, standing up for every gay person in America- in a quiet, but very personal and dignified way. ____________________
I don't know for sure.. I think the majority of Canadians were indifferent. If they were opposed they've mostly forgotten about it. Sometimes, I think change needs to be forced. Like integration. The time was right to force change. 20 years ago same sex marriage would have never worked because there was too many people dead set against it.
I suspect, as 4biddenpleasures suggested, that many politicians privately have different opinions than what the state publicly. It's an unfortunate reality, if they are to hope to get elected. I think the same would hold true for their personal beliefs regarding religion. No, there are no absolutes. But it's a pretty safe bet that the majority of religious evangelicals and supporters of religious fanaticism vote Republican, wouldn't you say? Likewise, the majority of people who abuse social programs likely vote Democrat. I would suspect, if a referendum were held on gay marriage in Canada, it would be defeated. Perhaps narrowly. Support is strongest in large urban areas, like Toronto, Vancouver, etc.. The more religious a population base, the more they are against it.
He certainly appeared angry when anyone mentioned it in public, as some did in national debates. Did you intend to use the words " it was her choice"? I think he would have been far more effective in supporting gay people if he had been more vocal. It appeared to me that, instead, he tried to distance himself from the political hot potato.
I don't think he cared about the issue, he cared about his daughter and, in defending her, he defended all. No doubt, he would have preferred the subject not come up, but he wasn't going to stand by and not defend his daughter, and her choice. (I prefer to think of it as a choice: I don't find a need to see it as preordained, and I personally doubt that it is so hard and fast as all that. The tales of homosexuality in boarding schools, and prisons, tell me it's not.) ____________________
Don't confuse homosexual sex with homosexuals. It may be a choice to have homosexual sex (prison, boarding school) but someone that is a homosexual is that way not by choice. It's something that's in the core of your being and not something that you do. There are tons of people who "experiment in college" but they're not homosexuals.
There is a cure for that. It's called "Integrity" You could generalize it like that. But, I think you seem to focus more on party affiliations rather than focusing on the political philosophy, idealism, wisdom, and values of each party (i.e., Big Gov't vs Small; Tax & spend vs financial responsibility, welfare state vs self reliance, etc.). I say this because I read your Temptations trip report in which you mentioned: "Weird....every single American I met there in our two weeks was a Republican...what's up with that??? Well, there is a very good reason for that. Its because Obama campaigned in 2008 as a centrist but now governs from the left. Its because the Obama administration continues to spend tax payers money recklessly and without regard for the already Trillions in national debt (i.e. Obamacare) Its because the Obama administration wants to social engineer liberal polices through wealth redistribution. Its because the Obama administration wants bigger Gov't and more Gov't intrusion into every American's life. Its because the Obama administration promised that with a 700 BILLION stimulus package unemployment wouldn't rise above 8%, but instead it rose above 10%. Currently Fifty-two percent (52%) disapprove of Obama's job performance: Daily Presidential Tracking Poll - Rasmussen Reports™ The majority of Americas did not sign up for this far left agenda and clearly are now rejecting Obama's brand of "Hope and Change". Let's also remember, Obama was NOT elected by a landslide. One need only to review the popular vote totals for the past 60 years to see that the 2008 election does not stand out as either a landslide or a vast majority. Obama won by just under 7 percentage points, about the same as George H.W. Bush in 1988 and Bill Clinton in 1992.
Then, if I preferred sex with men, I'd be a hypocrite and an impostor to call myself a homosexual? It's only if I do it out of compulsion that I've earned that right? __________________
You're still confusing the act of sex with being. If a virgin is heterosexual how do we know that they're hetero? Because that's just what they feel inside.
