Offensive material included (Gay Marriage)

Name: leahslad

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Product:	Gay Marriage
Date:	16/12/03 (586 review reads)
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Advantages: It would allow gay partners to be classed as next of kin should something happen and their loved one go to hospital, Homosexuality is on the increase and marriage needs to update itself to allow for this. Why shouldn't two people who love each other be allowed to get married?

Disadvantages: Would marriage allow gay couples to adopt and would this be truly fair on a child?

I have a feeling Dooyoo may well end up removing this opinion simply for the tone I may well use at times, although I stress that I am simply attempting to convey my thoughts and feelings towards this subject and not to cause personal offense to anyone.

Let's start with the politically correct part then. Homosexuality is a same gender relationship either with two males or two females. We know they have been occurring for years and history is constantly cropping up with extra names to throw into the 'same sex' relationship hat. I'm glad that part is over, I hate stating the obvious but sometimes it has to be done.

Right, time to offend a few people. I think gay relationships are wrong. Simple. I am not a christian, I am not an unpleasant man and I have very few predjudices but I do believe that homosexual sex of either gender is wrong. I dont find the vision of two women kissing a turn on and seeing two gay men kissing is a real stomach churner for me. Having said that, I do have gay friends and have no problem with them being homosexual in themselves.

You see, I am of the view that what you want to do, you should be allowed to do so long as it doesnt affect me and doesnt cause me any distress. My gay friends know how I feel and dont offer any objections, they will even go to certain lengths to avoid offending me such as not kissing each other in front of me. I feel this is fair enough and do not let it cloud my judgement of them as people. In some ways it makes me respect them that little bit more for sacrificing something in order to help the friendship.

Now we come to marriage. Marriage is a religious festival and one that is normally between a woman and a man. Nothing wrong with that. It dates back to way back when and to be honest it is becoming out dated. I have written a whole other opinion on 'Is marriage outdated' so if you want to hear more on that then feel free to go there. In t
hat opinion I stated that marriage needs to move forward and be more accomodating to the current society and the changes in opinions that have occurred over the past hundreds of years.

We have evolved slightly in allowing non-religious ceremonies to take place and be legal and in America they actually allow gay weddings. I have my severe reservations. I am not against gay marriage in itself, you should be allowed to marry the person you love in my opinion and although I would never want to attend one, it doesnt mean it should never happen. What does worry me are the implications of a homosexual couple getting married.

The first thing in favour of gay marriage is that it would allow the partner access to their loved one in hospital by making them next of kin. This may sound odd but homosexual partners have no rights to visit their partner if their family do not wish them to. This wouldn't be such a big problem if all families could accept their son/daughter being in a homosexual relationship but many families will reject the relationship as sick or unreal. This means should their son or daughter go into hospital, they have the right to refuse to let the partner into the room. Not good if your loved one has just had a car crash and is laying there unconcious. It would also mean funeral rights as well.

I am also going to surprise you by saying that gay couples should be entitled to tax benefits in the same way as married couples. They live together and try to live in almost the same way at heterosexual couples so why shouldn't they be entitled to the same tax reliefs?

The same goes with divorce, it wouldn't worry me if a homosexual couple had a divorce following the same rules as a heterosexual divorce. I certainly dont think every homosexual marriage would last forever so I guess it would be along similar grounds should they split. It would be interesting to see who's side the courts favoured though,
it's usually the woman!

The only actual thing that concerns me with gay marriage to be fair is children. I can accept homosexual couples want to live together and marry and all that stuff, but that is their choice. They choose to go against societies mainstream beliefs and take all the flack that goes with it. They choose to face people who are maybe against the way they live and can even be violent towards them simply for this reason. A child with homosexual parents doesnt make that choice. If a homosexual family adopt a child then that child has to go through school and other areas putting up with all the teasing and flack that will go with it, without having been allowed a choice in the matter.

I am not saying that homosexual couples can't make good parents. I am sure that they are more than capable of loving and caring for a child as much as any heterosexual couple, but how do you explain to your child that they have two mums and no dad? At what age should they be told that their family set-up is different? Surely you have to warn them before the other children learn about it and start the teasing - how confusing would that be? But at what age would they be ready to accept such a thing into their minds and truly understand its significance?

I feel harsh in saying that I dont think homosexual couples should be unable to adopt children because I feel for them not having any and some of them may well wish to be parents more than anything, but I dont think it is the right environment for a child to be raised in. Older children would be more capable of making their own choice and being able to deal with the problems that may arise from having homosexual parents but younger children would struggle to cope, especially at school.

I know I am about to recieve a large number of comments relating to how society should accept gay couples and not be predjudiced, so before all that comes I must stress that I agree with y
ou. But that is not how society is. The simple fact is that people still have some very closed views on homosexuality and some people will even use these views to make the lives of homosexuals and those related to them as difficult as possible.

Homosexuals are currently allowed to make a pledge to each other in a small ceremony, but it isnt marriage and doesnt offer them any rights as a married couple. I am not really sure where I stand on gay marriage, maybe on the fence (pardon the pun) but I am sure something does need to be changed. My problem is that this topic needs some real research and some real insight before any decision can be made. Is it fair to have children adopted into gay marriages? Is it fair to prevent Gay couples adopting children? Should we allow gay people to be forced to stay away when their loved ones are laying in hospital just because they are not officially next of kin? Perhaps I am not as anti-gay as I first made out, although I dont approve of homosexual relationships in my own mind. Maybe I am just an accomodating sort of person, but the children issue really worries me and if I was to vote in a referendum I would vote to allow gay marriage with all the benefits marriage offers heterosexual couples, but without the right to adopt children.

I am sorry if that offends some people but I only have my own opinion and I have tried to be fair.

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