And the People have Spoken...

Here are the two arguments (from the ones that I received - thank you everyone) regarding the same-sex marriage debate:

FOR:

I am a gay woman legally married to my wife Tonya in the state of California. We were married on 10/08 when it was legal to do so and remain legally married in the state of California today. Together since 2002, we were able to get married because we FINALLY could; it felt amazing to be able to do so legally in front of our family and friends.

I want to share a few examples why we would like to see gay marriage federally recognized, this goes beyond California and needs to change nationally for everybody. Many people think gay couples already have access to the same rights as straight couples, but this is simply not true.

After our wedding and ruling that we were still married even with Prop 8 passing, I was excited to have Tonya see about adding me to her insurance policy at work as her "legal spouse". What we learned is that the IRS federally mandates the rules regarding benefit plans. As the federal government does not recognize same sex marriage, I can only be considered Tonya's "domestic partner" regardless of the fact that we are "legally" married in California. (We filed for domestic partnerships years ago. We also paid a lawyer nearly $4000 a few years ago to write up wills, power of attys, etc. etc. to try and protect one another legally "just in case". If our marriage was federally recognized, none of this would be necessary; we would have those rights automatically. Imagine your “domestic partner” is sick and you rush to the hospital without your power of attorney documents and you are denied access to your domestic partner’s room. Does this seem “the same” as marriage? If you think this does not happen to gay “domestic partner” couples in the U.S., you are 100% wrong.)

The difference is that Tonya can add me to her policy "after taxes" on her paycheck as a registered domestic partner. As a legally married gay couple in California, we get the pleasure of "paying more" just because we are gay, this is unfair and wrong.

Legally, gay couples cannot file joint federal tax returns, we cannot be "next of kin" in the hospital UNLESS we have legal papers drawn up and show "proof" we have a right to be there. There are many many more examples. All of this is VERY frustrating! Tonya and I are "legally" marriage in California, we want “the same” rights as married couples vs. legal federal discrimination.

An amazing speech that Patricia Clarkson gave in June 2009. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/patricia-clarkson/heres-to-the-violets-my-t_b_215383.html
 
AGAINST:

"The implications for children in a world of decaying families are profound. A recent article in the Weekly Standard described how the advent of legally sanctioned gay unions in Scandinavian countries has already destroyed the institution of marriage, where half of today's children are born out of wedlock.


It is predicted now, based on demographic trends in this country, that more than half of the babies born in the 1990s will spend at least part of their childhood in single-parent homes.
Social scientists have been surprisingly consistent in warning against this fractured family. If it continues, almost every child will have several "moms" and "dads," perhaps six or eight "grandparents," and dozens of half-siblings. It will be a world where little boys and girls are shuffled from pillar to post in an ever-changing pattern of living arrangements-where huge numbers of them will be raised in foster-care homes or living on the street (as millions do in other countries all over the world today). Imagine an environment where nothing is stable and where people think primarily about themselves and their own self-preservation.

The apostle Paul described a similar society in Romans 1, which addressed the epidemic of homosexuality that was rampant in the ancient world and especially in Rome at that time. He wrote, "They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless" (v. 29-31, NIV).


It appears likely now that the demise of families will accelerate this type of decline dramatically, resulting in a chaotic culture that will be devastating to children." Excerpt from http://www.nogaymarriage.com/tenarguments.asp