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Same-Sex Marriage Is a Right, Supreme Court Rules

nytimes.com

161–170 of 1001 posts

Re: Same-Sex Marriage Is a Right, Supreme Court Rules

#161
post #145

While this is excellent news for my gay and lesbian friends, I see no progress on polygamy. Which, unlike same-sex marriage, is an institution with deep roots both in America (the Mormons were forced to give up this sacrament as a condition of statehood) and in the majority of world cultures, where it ranges from condoned to celebrated. Without getting unduly personal, let's say that I have a stake in that question b…

> While this is excellent news for my gay and lesbian friends, I see no progress on polygamy. Or indeed, on the fundamental issue, which is the need to get permission from a tiny group of powerful people in order to get married.

...get permission from a tiny group of powerful people in order to get the government to recognize your marriage.

Re: Same-Sex Marriage Is a Right, Supreme Court Rules

#162

I'm a straight conservative (more fiscal than social, and sure as hell not Republican any more), and my reaction to this is: "meh". The writing has been on the wall for a while now, and anybody surprised by this hasn't been paying attention. Any social conservatives on HN -- that is to say, both of you -- should keep in mind that if you're worried about how this affects the sanctity of marriage, that institution has…

You argue with the sanctity of marriage. But which modern authority makes it sacred?

Re: Same-Sex Marriage Is a Right, Supreme Court Rules

#163
post #17

For me and a lot of friends and family, marriage equality. Yay. "It is now clear that the challenged laws burden the liberty of same-sex couples, and it must be further acknowledged that they abridge central precepts of equality . . . Especially against a long history of disapproval of their relationships, this denial to same-sex couples of the right to marry works a grave and continuing harm. The imposition of this…

> opinion also reasserted that people who are really mad about this can continue to be mad and vocal about it, as guaranteed by the First Amendment Was this a question? I don't think I've heard anyone ever say otherwise. I'll add though, that people long have cloaked oppression in religion. People justified (and still justify) slavery, segregation, and oppression of women under the guise of religion, for example. Som…

To be fair, the things you mention (slavery, segregation, oppression, even genocide) have been justified by people led by pure atheistic humanism effectively cloaking oppression in logic, academia and scientific theory (Mao, Stalin, Hitler, Pol Pot). I think it's fair to say that people with all sorts of ideologies have treated those they fear, don't understand or just plain don't like pretty poorly.

I'll add that some who have been at the forefront of fighting for the abolishment of the oppressions you list have done so while following Christianity (MLK, Wilberforce)

Re: Same-Sex Marriage Is a Right, Supreme Court Rules

#164
post #77
post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dave Chappelle is a comedian, they say stuff like that all the time, it's part of their job. If you are going to quote somebody (specially on these issues), I'd recommend not to quote a comedian.

I did think about that a bit. That's part of why I added the disclaimer. I included it more because I was watching it this weekend, saw that bit, and thought, "That would be a really unacceptable thing to say today, but back then it was considered funny." Edit: And you're right, comedians are on a different standard. Sorry, forgot to include that.

If you think that would be an unacceptable joke for a comedian to say today, you should watch the comedian Daniel Tosh's show Tosh.0 on Comedy Central for essentially 30 minutes of unacceptable humor.

Re: Same-Sex Marriage Is a Right, Supreme Court Rules

#165

I'm a straight conservative (more fiscal than social, and sure as hell not Republican any more), and my reaction to this is: "meh". The writing has been on the wall for a while now, and anybody surprised by this hasn't been paying attention. Any social conservatives on HN -- that is to say, both of you -- should keep in mind that if you're worried about how this affects the sanctity of marriage, that institution has…

> That's why my reaction is "meh": as a "problem", SSM isn't even on the radar. I realize I'm approaching the question from a different angle than you are, but I want to point out that it was a very big problem for gay and lesbian Americans and their loved ones.

Oh, I get it, and my intent is not to downplay the significance of this to same-sex couples.

My point is that anybody wailing and gnashing their teeth over this is being incredibly short-sighted.

Re: Same-Sex Marriage Is a Right, Supreme Court Rules

#166

While this is excellent news for my gay and lesbian friends, I see no progress on polygamy. Which, unlike same-sex marriage, is an institution with deep roots both in America (the Mormons were forced to give up this sacrament as a condition of statehood) and in the majority of world cultures, where it ranges from condoned to celebrated. Without getting unduly personal, let's say that I have a stake in that question b…

Polygamy is a deeply troublesome arrangement, with a storied history of abuse. It has been steadily abandoned and outlawed as societies grant more legal rights and self-determination to women. There is simply no way to legally recognize poly* relationships under the law in a way that resembles binary marriage.

> Polygamy is a deeply troublesome arrangement, with a storied history of abuse.

As is traditional marriage, but to a much larger extent.

Re: Same-Sex Marriage Is a Right, Supreme Court Rules

#167
post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> opinion also reasserted that people who are really mad about this can continue to be mad and vocal about it, as guaranteed by the First Amendment Was this a question? I don't think I've heard anyone ever say otherwise. I'll add though, that people long have cloaked oppression in religion. People justified (and still justify) slavery, segregation, and oppression of women under the guise of religion, for example. Som…

There are quite a lot of people who argued that changing the definition of marriage was an infringement of their religious rights. I've never been clear on how that was supposed to happen but maybe you can dig it out of the oral arguments.

Unfortunately, in NC, we have a law on the books allowing magistrates to refuse to perform marriages that would not be consistent with the magistrate's personal religious views. It's insane, I know.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/12/us/north-carolina-allows-o...

Re: Same-Sex Marriage Is a Right, Supreme Court Rules

#168

While this is excellent news for my gay and lesbian friends, I see no progress on polygamy. Which, unlike same-sex marriage, is an institution with deep roots both in America (the Mormons were forced to give up this sacrament as a condition of statehood) and in the majority of world cultures, where it ranges from condoned to celebrated. Without getting unduly personal, let's say that I have a stake in that question b…

I would bet the biggest opposer to polygamy will be the INS ... imagine the Green Card businesses that would enable!

Re: Same-Sex Marriage Is a Right, Supreme Court Rules

#169

While this is excellent news for my gay and lesbian friends, I see no progress on polygamy. Which, unlike same-sex marriage, is an institution with deep roots both in America (the Mormons were forced to give up this sacrament as a condition of statehood) and in the majority of world cultures, where it ranges from condoned to celebrated. Without getting unduly personal, let's say that I have a stake in that question b…

Polygamy is a deeply troublesome arrangement, with a storied history of abuse. It has been steadily abandoned and outlawed as societies grant more legal rights and self-determination to women. There is simply no way to legally recognize poly* relationships under the law in a way that resembles binary marriage.

In Europe in the modern era, the trend is more in the other direction: as society gains more respect for both men and women's choice of sexual self-determination, instead of being fixated on traditional opposite-sex, pair-courtship rituals, polyamorous relationships are becoming more accepted. They were once strongly disapproved of and even illegalized, but are now increasingly being seen as a legitimate personal choice. On the activist side, many (most?) LGBTQ organizations also include poly activists, especially the organizations which have a more left-wing flavor.

I think the more likely path than legal polygamy, though, is to expand a more flexible set of legal arrangements for families, as a replacement for traditional marriage being the legal framework. The fact that a huge proportion of couples here (Denmark) no longer get married is already forcing that for another reason. Since many families which otherwise look traditional — long-term cohabitation of an opposite-sex couple, jointly raising children of which they're parents, etc. — don't get married, marriage as the organizing principle of families is becoming less relevant, so the law already has to start handling things differently.

Re: Same-Sex Marriage Is a Right, Supreme Court Rules

#170

I'm a straight conservative (more fiscal than social, and sure as hell not Republican any more), and my reaction to this is: "meh". The writing has been on the wall for a while now, and anybody surprised by this hasn't been paying attention. Any social conservatives on HN -- that is to say, both of you -- should keep in mind that if you're worried about how this affects the sanctity of marriage, that institution has…

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