The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill (it applies to England and Wales) received Royal Assent in July 2013. We'll just have to wait and see if all mankind perishes, the apocalypse arrives and we can't use the word "gay" to mean "happy" any more. (Has anyone, since 1970?)
Arguments against gay marriage, used by some gay people:
Rights are more important than a name.
It's a heteronormative institution that has historically marginalised homosexuality.
Marriage is "between man and woman" and that's the best environment for children.
It's a patriarchal, flawed institution.
In countries that have civil partnerships, some gay people say that's enough.
Some gay people are against equal marriage, says BBC Online:
"Gay activists should instead put their energies into environmental issues like climate change, because there's a chance to make a morally more defensible and more urgent difference."
Some lesbians are opposed to marriage on feminist grounds, says Claudia Card, a professor of philosophy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, because they see it as an institution that serves the interests of men more than women. It is also, in her view "heteronormative", embodying the view that heterosexuality is the preferred and normal sexuality. "It's undeniable that marriage has historically also discriminated against same-sex couples," Card says. As a result, she thinks the issue of marriage is a distraction.
Legba Carrefour, a self-styled "radical queer", calls it a "destructive way of life" that produces broken families. He believes a more important priority for the gay community is the rise in violence against transgendered people.
Although the introduction of same-sex marriage will not make heterosexual marriage "disappear", it may make "the path to fulfilment, in marriage and in other relationships, more difficult to find," says the report Men and Women in Marriage, published April 2013 by the Church of England's Faith and Order Commission.
This is a truly terrifying totalitarian mindset from which the country cries out for deliverance. (Melanie Phillips)
Head of Russian Orthodox Church warns equal marriage is a sign of the apocalypse. (@pinknews 2013-07-21)
US Catholic Archbishop: Satan is responsible for gays marrying and having anal sex. (@pinknews)
Ana María Jiménez Ortiz, a congresswoman for the Mexican political party PAN, says gay people should not be allowed to marry because they don't face each other during sex. (She later said “I'm sorry that my participation was taken out of context”.) Aug 2013
From Hansard via the Independent:
Lord Waddington predicted that to profess disagreement with gay marriage would end up designated as a “hate crime”.
Lord Hylton expressed his regret that “the fine old English and French word ‘gay’ has, in my lifetime, been appropriated by a small but vocal minority” with the result that “it can no longer be used in its original and rather delightful meaning”. (In the 1840s, a “gay” person was a prostitute.)
If we give you gay people this equal right, asked Lord James, “what are you going to ask for next?”
Gay marriage is a grotesque subversion of a human right. (Cardinal O’Brien - or did he say rite?)
Gay marriage is a threat to the continued existence of all mankind. (Pope Benedict)
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee thinks gay marriage is like polygamy, assisted suicide and prostitution.
Pastor Kevin Swanson warned that if Colorado allows civil unions for same-sex couples, gays will end up burning Christians at the stake and children will be handed over to paedophiles.
I have seen one other argument against: "I'm not a bigot - I'm just being concerned about the feelings of those who are." (Brian Lawton /@MrBLawton)
Sikh lord says gay marriage would lead to children being “‘neglected”. (via @Sathnam)
Speaking in a debate in the House of Lords on Monday, the Most Rev Justin Welby said that marriage was the "cornerstone of society" and that what was being proposed was "neither equal nor effective". The Archbishop denied that his opposition to the bill was a faith issue, insisting it was "about the general social good". (June 2013)
Update 2024: Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, allows clergy to bless gay partnerships.
The Vatican's newspaper compared gay marriage proponents to conniving communists, promising a false utopia.
US radio host: Gays are "empty" inside and want to "absorb the personality and identity of others". (Aug 2013)
And who was it who said that gays should not marry because they meet in bars and aren't committed to each other?
More here.
And here.
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