Should gay marriage be legal in Ireland?

Dublin_Gunner

But things are gonna get confusing, I mean, with guys marrying gay girls, girls hooking up with gay men ugh my brain hurts.

Where will it all end?

Although - it could mean a rise in the % of the female population willing to take it up .......

...I think I'll stop talking now :eek:

Fugly

I don't know why I bother reading these threads, I lose a little hope in people.

Two points
Homosexuality is found in many animals and some gay couples do actually rasie young. {studies show they tend to do better compared to young raised by a hetro couples}

Also as for we're all here to pro-create, in every population a proportion do not pro-create but can add to the population overall fitness. {Altruism}

P.S.
And maybe its me, but I distinctly remember studying the history of marriage, it began as a contract with no religious connections before it got "borrowed" by the church. {Leaves to look this up}

I can understand any church limiting who they marry, like others have said it's a private club.

turgon

The only people who dont want gay marriage is those who have an opinion that it is wrong, but rather than being happy with themselves they want to force this opinion on everyone else.

A firm yes.

Max Power1

First off to avoiid the obvious questions later, i am both atheist and bi-sexual.

Now - Marriage? Legal partnership is fine and I have no problem with that but is marriage not a sacrament in a religion? And homosexuality is against the rules of that religion? Therefore how can there be gay marriage, if the homosexual act is a sin?

The mind boggles.

thelordofcheese

Max Power1 wrote: »

First off to avoiid the obvious questions later, i am both atheist and bi-sexual.

Now - Marriage? Legal partnership is fine and I have no problem with that but is marriage not a sacrament in a religion? And homosexuality is against the rules of that religion? Therefore how can there be gay marriage, if the homosexual act is a sin?

The mind boggles.

Marriage is both a legal construct and a religious ceremony. However, we only care about the former.
Gay people want the same standing in the eyes of the law, not in the eyes of God/Allah/Santa/whatever.

PeterSweeney

I don't think too many gay people are bothered by not being recognised by the church (in fact, I think more and more straight couples want nothing to do with the church, especially after the Ryan report, but just want to get married there so they can walk down the aisle), but the fact that they are not recognised by the state as having equal rights legally is really unfair (e.g as next of kin in hospital, or for inheritance, or for state benefits, or custody of children if the one biological parent is deceased etc). Sorry, i'm not the most eloquent writer, but you get my point

ChocolateSauce

It's a civil rights and freedom issue, so yes yes YES. No one is forcing nay sayers into a gay union, but the nay-sayers are certainly forcing people not to do it.

Zillah

I can't wait for someone to correlate this douche's IP with his main account.

EDIT: Well that was fast.

Prof.Badass

No. Gay marraige shouldn't be brought in.

Instead, state recognition of marraige should be abolished.

It's blatant discrimination against single people. Why should someone get tax breaks merely for having a partner?

Instead the tax breaks should be given to those raising children. For this to work smoothly men would need to be given automatic rights to their children. Obviously for either sex these rights would be surrendered should they allow someone else to adopt their child.

I like to think that if men were given equal rights the number of non-childless couples staying together would increase dramatically, although that's a different debate for a different thread.

Sharpshooter

JupiterKid banned for personal Abuse. Attack the post, not the poster.


EDIT: Zillah banned also.

briktop

trout wrote: »

Yes - if by marriage we mean legal and civil recognition.

What about gay couples of either gender, married or otherwise, seeking to adopt ?

call me new-fashioned but i'd rather see two gay peeps get married and adopt and raise kids
than two hetero scobes churning out litters of our future junkies/ thieves / muggers /<insert scum career of choice here >

Sulmac

Greens say Civil Partnership Bill does not go far enough

HARRY McGEE, Political Staff

Fri, Jun 26, 2009

THE CIVIL Partnership Bill, which will give people in long-term relationships many of the statutory rights of married couples, will be published today by Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern.

The legislation will allow same-sex couples to register their civil partnership for the first time and will also recognise a number of other rights and obligations previously denied to them.

Those rights and obligations are expected to include succession rights, protection of a home that a couple shares, plus maintenance rights in the event of a separation.

The Green Party made legislation that would give full recognition and protection to gay relationships one of its preconditions during coalition negotiations with Fianna Fáil in 2007. The programme for government included a promise to introduce civil partnership legislation.

A Green Party source said yesterday the party’s policy position is that gay marriage should be recognised. “This legislation is not as far as the Green Party policy requires, but it’s a step in the right direction. This will allow many rights and recognition, but will stop short of marriage.”

Mr Ahern has said in recent months that the Bill was necessary to recognise more complex arrangements in modern society, particularly those involving same-sex couples whose relationships have not previously been given legal recognition.

Under the Bill, once a civil partnership is registered, the couple will be dealt with in the same way as a married couple by the Revenue Commissioners. It will also extend those rights to other forms of long-term relationships. Unmarried opposite-sex couples will be allowed to register, as will those in non-sexual relations, such as siblings who live together, or cohabiting companions.

The heads of the Bill (giving an outline of the proposed legislation) were first published in late 2007 but progress was slowed by a number of complex issues. One of the issues is believed to have been the potential conflict between the strong rights conferred to marriage in the Constitution and the equality rights protected by Article 40.1.

Ahead of the publication, a number of campaigners calling for full legal recognition for gay marriage protested outside the Dáil yesterday. One male protester climbed to the top of one of the 4m-high pillars at the Leinster House gates.

© 2009 The Irish Times

Too bad they don't have the balls to stand up to Fianna Fáil on this one - or anything else. :rolleyes:

HouseHippo

FearDark wrote: »

No.
Its just wrong, Im not coming from a religious point of view at all but when I see two guys kissing or being intimate I physically feel sick, I know its cool these days to be gay but Im not buying it. Savage me all you want people but I thnk its wrong.

Well im sure when some people see your attitude and have to hear your opinion they feel physically ill too but we can't make that illegal can we

grenache

I used to be against gay marriage, but more recently i've come to be in favour of it. It does nobody any harm, and as long as two people love each other, what does is matter if its two men or two women. I certainly wouldn't listen to what the church has to say on this matter. After all that its got up to in its shameful history.

HouseHippo

grenache wrote: »

I used to be against gay marriage, but more recently i've come to be in favour of it. It does nobody any harm, and as long as two people love each other, what does is matter if its two men or two women. I certainly wouldn't listen to what the church has to say on this matter. After all that its got up to in its shameful history.

Glad to see ya came to your senses

D.R cowboy

Sure didn't my mam & Dad get married

RiverWilde

This thread really reflects some of the problems in society today.

There is a divide between those who feel that they have the right to ram their beliefs down the throat of others and those who believe that the law applies to all and that conflicting beliefs can co-exist harmoniously.
The right to free expression, the right to a family life etc. are there, they're not just pie in the sky ideals. Just because someones idea of a family differs from the majority does not mean they are not entitled to live their life that way. How on earth does that affect anyone else?

This reminds me of a story I once heard about chickens in a farmyard. If one chicken is different from the others ... the majority will peck it to death ... just for being different. I'd like to think humans are a bit more evolved than chickens!

Riv

stateofflux

yes...in the eyes of the state marriage is more about legally binding rights of possession(im not positive but i dont think civil partnership grants exactly the same things)....for that reason alone anybody should allowed to marry gay or not....rediculous that it isnt legal and all fundamentally its fuelled by catholic bigotry....

robbie_998

yes but only for the lesbians :rolleyes: