POLL: Should Gays Be Able to Legally Marry?
Between President Obama saying he supports gay marriage and North Carolina recently voting to ban gay marriage, Patch wants to see how Menomonee Falls residents feel about the controversial issue.
Photos
Videos
Unless you've been living under a rock, it's quite clear that one of the most debated topics in politics lately has been gay rights, and last night, the President joined the movement.
In a sit-down interview with ABC News Thursday, President Barack Obama finally came out in favor of gay marriage, a topic he claimed to be "evolving" on throughout his presidency. While he said he's always believed in equal rights for gay couples, he wasn't convinced the union should be called marriage -- until now.
"I have to tell you that over the course of several years as I have talked to friends and family and neighbors when I think about members of my own staff who are in incredibly committed monogamous relationships, same-sex relationships, who are raising kids together, when I think about those soldiers or airmen or Marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf and yet feel constrained, even now that Don't Ask Don't Tell is gone, because they are not able to commit themselves in a marriage, at a certain point I’ve just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married," he said.
President Obama's decision came on the heels of Vice President Joseph Biden telling NBC's "Meet The Press" that he was in favor of gay marriage, and North Carolina voting to outlaw gay marriage.
However, now that Menomonee Falls residents have had time to digest all the news, it's time for Patch to put its finger on the pulse. Vote in our Patch Poll and tell us in the comments: What are your feelings on gay marriage?
Craig
4:13 pm on Thursday, May 10, 2012
For a few hundred bucks the gays can have documents drawn up by an attorney granting Health Care powers, etc. There is no need to ruin the sanctity of marriage to include homosexual couples. They have rights as a couple if they desire to have the documents drawn up by legal counsel.
Should Social Security benefits be paid to the survivor? Gay marriage has much deeper ramifications than just two men or two women living together in a monagamous relationship.
Bert
4:16 pm on Thursday, May 10, 2012
Is the "sanctity" of your marriage so fragile that the thought of homosexuals marrying would undermine it? Sounds a lot more like a personal problem for you.
Bert
4:14 pm on Thursday, May 10, 2012
My wife and I were married in a state that now allows same-sex couples to marry. There are hundreds, maybe thousands of same-sex married couples with the same marriage license as mine. I have noticed no appreciable impact whatsoever on the strength or "meaning" of my marriage.
Bert
4:26 pm on Thursday, May 10, 2012
(This is likely the ONLY thing I ever agreed with Dick Cheney on, BTW).
Craig
4:27 pm on Thursday, May 10, 2012
Bert: If you want to marry Ernie that is fine with me. Just do it in a State that allows it- and stay there.
Religions all over the world see marriage as a religious event or sacrament. Making gay marriage legal is just another way to move towards a non religious society. We have taken God out of the schools, taught kids they are decendants of apes....and wonder why they act like animals.
Bert
4:40 pm on Thursday, May 10, 2012
Craig - we've (unfortunately) not taken god out of schools; kids are free to pray whenever they want. Schools do, in fact, teach science, which most people think is a positive. You are apparently threatened by science (which is ironical, for someone using a COMPUTER to post stuff on the INTERNET). At any rate, regardless of whether homosexuals are allowed to marry, you are free to join any cult you want, and that cult can do or say whatever it wants about the topic. There are actual, real-life religions that accept homosexuality and would perform gay marriages if legally allowed to do so. Once again, the only way those marriages would impact your own marriage is if your own marriage is dependent on external validation. If so, your marriage has much bigger problems.
Craig
11:46 pm on Friday, May 11, 2012
Don't worry about my marriage Bert, I have been married almost as long as you have been packing fudge for Ernie.
Brittany
4:18 pm on Thursday, May 10, 2012
To each their own. I think they should be allowed to get married. i don't think government should have anything to say about it. Especially because some heterosexuals change marriages more than they change their underwear and that's okay, but two people of the same sex who truly love each other can't get married. It blows my mind.
Summer Hemphill
5:28 pm on Thursday, May 10, 2012
If you want to protect the "sanctity" of marriage banning divorce would be a much more effective means of reaching your goal ! God fixation won't fix our nation,don't allow religious extremists to legislate their faith based moral agenda on those who don't share their divinely delusional views ! Who one chooses to fall in love & make a life with is really no one elses business irregardless of their genders or sexual preferences !! I don't tell you people who not to have sex with so kindly keep your dated family values to yourselves !!
Jim Kube
6:57 pm on Thursday, May 10, 2012
This issue is very complex, and involves real PEOPLE. Folks do not need to be only "for or against." We all know there are many more shades to an issue when dealing with topics of humanity.
I haven't completely defined in my mind and spirit exactly where I stand on this issue.
I will admit upfront that this story, http://www.danoah.com/2011/11/im-christian-unless-youre-gay.html, has challenged many of my long-held core understandings.
Clark
10:31 pm on Thursday, May 10, 2012
It's between a man and a woman- period.
Steve ®
11:41 pm on Thursday, May 10, 2012
I can't wait for Obama to grant me powers to marry 3 chicks. I will have so many sandwiches and my laundry basket will be full.
So how many gays went out today and got hitched?
Fred Wordell
8:13 am on Friday, May 11, 2012
The "morality" of the issue has nothing to do with Obama's announcement. The motivation is a significant block of votes and another shot against the Church!
Bert
9:42 am on Friday, May 11, 2012
Fred - I would venture to guess that there are exactly ZERO pro-equality voters out there who were planning to vote for Romney before this announcement. He gains nothing at the voting booth from this. Not one mind was changed on the basis of this statement. As for a shot against the "Church", there are many churches in these United States, and a good number of them already perform blessings of same sex marriage. This includes segments of the Episcopal, Lutheran, Friends, Unitarian, and Anglican churches. Even the highly intolerant Roman Catholic Church condemns discrimination against homosexuals. You may choose to attend a church that takes an extreme discriminatory stance towards homosexuality, but you cannot claim that yours is the ONLY church.
Gary Tefft
9:27 am on Friday, May 11, 2012
The concept of marriage being limited to being between one man and ONE woman is a relatively modern tradition. Different faiths have differing customs regarding this, even today. Yes, marriage is held as a sacrament in all the religions I'm aware of, but there are important civil issues involved as well that the government must regulate. If the government extends those same civil regulations regardless of gender it has no impact on the "sanctity" of marriage as viewed from in the perspective of faith. However, if the religious viewpoint dictates what the civil regulations shall be, we must then decide, "Which religious views do we adopt to apply to ALL of our citizens, regardless of their individual religious faith?"
Melissa
3:10 pm on Friday, May 11, 2012
@Gary Tefft- in the Lutheran faith, marriage is not a sacrament. Lutherans define sacraments as 1. Something commanded by God and 2. The Word combined with a physical element. Lutheran sacraments include baptism (physical element is water) and Holy communion (wine/bread). Perhaps you are thinking of the Catholic faith which includes marriage as one of the seven sacraments. Blessings.
Gary Tefft
7:24 pm on Friday, May 11, 2012
Melissa: I wasn't thinking of the Catholic faith, but my use of the word "sacrament" regarding marriage was wrong. What I was meaning to point out was that marriage is regarded with great importance in all religions and generally involves special ceremonies, rituals and strictures. As you point out, the word "sacrament" has some specific qualifications and shouldn't be used generically, because it includes different things in different faiths.