He’s not arguing against ssm, he’s just spouting the prejudice that marriage is between a genetically-determined man and a woman, who may OR MAY NOT have sex (PinV only).

It has nothing to do with love, commitment, mutual-responsibility, it’s just potential PinV sex.

Nothing can be said to change these people’s minds, we are the enemy of all they hold dear and sacred. They wouldn’t pee on us if we were on fire, we threaten their idea of civilisation.

We can only appeal past them to people who can sympathise with the cases that Erin quoted, by seeing how how our situations mirror those they can understand (thank you Erin for giving reality to too often academic discussions, and condolences on your family’s loss).

We covered the Rhode Island vote in a number of commentaries. The overturn of the veto is here from which you can link to the rest.

That may be the guiding principle in a totalitarian country. In a free land, though, we have to remember this: The individual does not exist to serve the State.

And the libertarian in me dances.

Sometimes we forget – due to confusing and confused political pairings – that at their heart social conservatives are collectivists who fear individualism.

Totalitarian minded people (as social “conservatives” so often are) always ask “why should you be allowed to…” when the real question – that which freedom lovers ponder – is “what gives you the right to stop me?”

While the focus of marriage has changed repeatedly throughout history, it has always had as a central element the disposition of property. Think about what’s at issue in divorce: child custody and material property. (And once upon a time, in the Judaeo-Christian tradition at least, children were part of the property.)

And there, of course, is where George once again shoots himself in the foot: “But why does the state have any interest in regulating marriage if marriage is unconnected to children?”

It’s about the money.

My grandmother passed away over the weekend. My grandfather who has loved and cherished her for 65 years is now dealing with the unbearable loss. I was there when it happened, and was there the next day. I have seen him clutch his chest while the tears squirted out. I heard him say “it just hurts so much. My life will never be the same.”
Now, consider that there are elderly same-sex couples who have lived together for decades then weren’t even allowed to live in the same home together like my grandparents were; weren’t allowed to hold their dying loved one’s hand like my grandfather was; weren’t kept abreast of the arrangements like my grandfather has been; weren’t even given the sympathies a spouse should receive by those in the community. One such couple comes to mind. I can’t remember their names, but they lived in California. They were put in separate homes and the county took possession of their stuff. The one who died first died alone and his partner was powerless to get to him. It’s sick, absolutely sick. With a marriage license, hospitals, county officials, relatives, attorneys, funeral planners etc have to by state law recognize the spouse.
This piece by George is a long, drawn out piece of chicken scratch that someone should blow their nose on, not base a legal opinion on. We want state-recognized marriage. The simple fact is the state does not tell anyone what kind of relationship to have in their marriage or that they have to raise kids, and whatever view he has of what a marriage ought to be is absolutely irrelevant. This is a Princeton professor right? Unbelievable.

The story about Mark and Rob is heartbreaking. It really does expose the utter hypocrisy of people like Robert George and Chris Plante. Gay couples just need to fill out a bunch of legal forms, including (of course) funeral-planning agent forms, and your relationship is totally equal to any heterosexual marriage. The fact that someone representing NOM had the audacity to even bring up an obscure legal document as proof that gay couples have the same legal rights as everyone else, speaks volumes. As far as I’m concerned, Chris Plante is an inhuman monster.

Yay! I’ve been waiting for the next post. Ok, gonna go back and read now.