Recent events in the news about same-sex marriages are very disturbing. Same-sex marriage is not about civil rights!
It's about forcing the majority to accept sexual deviancy as a normal behavior. True marriage belongs to a man and a woman. If the two consenting adults choose to live together in a homosexual relationship, that's their choice. But they should not have a right to get married, adopt innocent children and bring them up in their lifestyle.
I believe people with homosexual orientation are deserving of compassion and understanding. This compassion, however, must not extend to acceptance of the homosexual lifestyle at the expense of marriage and family life. Marriage and family life are the bedrock of all human society. They are the foundation of a nation's moral, spiritual, social and political culture. There is no issue more deserving of the protections of our Constitution than marriage and the family.
If the defense of the traditional definition of marriage is not worthy of constitutional amendment, nothing is.
Please support the true meaning of marriage and family life.
Tom Smith
Howells
I really liked your quote �Same-sex marriage is not about civil rights! It's about forcing the majority to accept sexual deviancy as a normal behavior.� To me, that statement is a lot like telling Thurgood Marshall back in the 50s �Integrating schools is not about civil rights! It�s about letting those filthy black children go to the same school as my normal white children.� See the problem with such a statement?
While you claim you have �compassion� and �understanding� for homosexuals, you have to understand that same-sex couples are being denied hundreds of rights that married couples have. Same-sex couples are being denied rights just because of their sexual orientation. That doesn�t seem right, does it?????
Nicky C
I cannot believe the letters to the editor about gay marriage. I have come to the conclusion that the people who read your newspaper have just lost their minds. What they don't talk about is the tax money that is going to come out of the pockets of taxpayers when these people use the legal system for marriage and divorce. Who pays for the judge, bailiff, clerk, etc.? The other benefits they are going to receive from Social Security in death benefits of a spouse, or the other unmentioned costs that are going to be incurred by small business covering their health care, pensions, and I could go on for pages.
Let's use common sense. (Webster's dictionary, marriage: The act of marrying, or the state of being married: Specifically a compact entered into between a man and a woman.) If married meant the act of marrying anything, why couldn't I marry my dog, fish, turtle, then have my employer add it to my health insurance, take it to court and divorce it, and if it dies, collect death benefits?
If you want a union between two men or women, go to a lawyer, have him write up a compact between yourselves and use your own money and leave the taxpayer and government out of it. I pay enough taxes, and I don't want to subsidize any of you.
Gus DeBree
Matamoras, Pa.
I don�t think it is a wise idea to deny people basic rights (ie your example of tax dollars paying for a judge, bailiff, clerk) just because you don�t want to subsidize their rights with your tax dollars. If that was the case, then I should be able to say �Gus! I don�t like you! I don�t want to subsidize your life style anymore by letting you use the roads, the library, the public schools you children go to, that my tax dollars pay for.� The fact is, Gus, that same-sex couples pay taxes, just like you, and deserve basic civil rights, just like you.
Additionally, to answer your question, �If married meant the act of marrying anything, why couldn't I marry my dog, fish, turtle?,� Marriage is a CONTRACT between two people. Since 1) Animals are inherently unable to consent to a contract, and 2) Legally speaking, any contract with an animal as a principle is automatically void, I don�t think we have to worry about the slippery slop of people starting to marry their hamster or dog. Marriage is a contract between two people that should be extended to same-sex couples.
You sort of allude to civil unions, but, unfortunately, civil unions are not the answer to giving same-sex couples equal rights. Couples in a civil union can�t file a joint tax return, can�t inherit property intestate, and can�t claim an elective share off of a will, among many other rights they are denied. Additionally, civil unions are not universally recognized throughout the country. While civil unions appear to be a sensible compromise, civil unions are just another avenue to deny same-sex couples basic civil rights that married couples have.
Nicky C