BREAKING: Vermont legalizes same-sex marriage

[Admiral Yi]

Exactly, I'm shocked that Yi is shocked.  Giuliani, Romney, Pataki, Bloomberg, all were Republicans when elected.

And none of them were elected in Vermont.

[derspiess]

How long will it take before opposing gay marriage becomes politically taboo in the US.  In Canada it took about one Federal election.

It'll take much longer than that.  It's going to be a very, very tough battle in the South.

We'll see.

Right, now, a third of Americans support gay marriage; a third support civil unions.  I think it is probable that most or all of the Northeast will have gay marriage by 2012, with civil unions in Illinois, Oregon, Washington, and California.

Once you get to that point, you're talking about hundreds of millions of Americans who live in states where gays are forming families with state recognition, and the world not ending.

My guess is a supreme court case sometime in the 2020s, but I could be wrong.

You don't live where Cal & I live.

[The Brain]

How long will it take before opposing gay marriage becomes politically taboo in the US.  In Canada it took about one Federal election.

It'll take much longer than that.  It's going to be a very, very tough battle in the South.

We'll see.

Right, now, a third of Americans support gay marriage; a third support civil unions.  I think it is probable that most or all of the Northeast will have gay marriage by 2012, with civil unions in Illinois, Oregon, Washington, and California.

Once you get to that point, you're talking about hundreds of millions of Americans who live in states where gays are forming families with state recognition, and the world not ending.

My guess is a supreme court case sometime in the 2020s, but I could be wrong.

You don't live where Cal & I live.

You live together?

[Caliga]

@ Faeelin

The issue is that nearly all of these states have constitutional bans and legislatures hostile to the idea.  Plus you're naive if you think many people in the South aren't deeply homophobic.

[derspiess]

You live together?

Yep, I squatted on his property.



That sounds kinda dirty

[Admiral Yi]

Yep, I squatted on his property.



That sounds kinda dirty

:lol:Kinda?

[Valmy]

@ Faeelin

The issue is that nearly all of these states have constitutional bans and legislatures hostile to the idea.  Plus you're naive if you think many people in the South aren't deeply homophobic.

Jesus hates gayness.  This I know, For the Bible tells me so..

[Ed Anger]

The issue is that nearly all of these states have constitutional bans and legislatures hostile to the idea.  Plus you're naive if you think many people in the South aren't deeply homophobic.

It annoyed the living fuck out of me when they voted a ban into the Ohio constitution. Then I read Marti's posts over time and I'm not that annoyed anymore.

[Habbaku]

I wonder if Martinus would hate Vermont if he found out about their gun laws.

[Faeelin]

@ Faeelin

The issue is that nearly all of these states have constitutional bans and legislatures hostile to the idea.  Plus you're naive if you think many people in the South aren't deeply homophobic.

No, I readily acknowledge it. I am just saying that I think that once the majority of the nation trends has accepted gay marriage, the south will get dragged along by the untrammeled power of, to quote Hans, a Supreme Court who makes up claims based upon hippy tea leaf readings. State constitutional bans would be unconstitutional given the Federal Constitution.

As a better legal argument, I'd expect a court to find that DoMA is unconstitutional first.

[Faeelin]

You don't live where Cal & I live.

I guess I wasn't being clear. My feeling is that the South will get dragged along against its will by one of two means.

[DGuller]

And none of them were elected in Vermont.

Not in Vermont, but in fruity states nonetheless.

[Caliga]

I wonder if Martinus would hate Vermont if he found out about their gun laws.

What gun laws?

[Valmy]

What gun laws?

The perfect state for the heavily armed gay couple.

[Caliga]

I guess I wasn't being clear. My feeling is that the South will get dragged along against its will by one of two means.

I agree that a Supreme Court ruling on the issue in favor of gay marriage is possible, but you simply won't see justices of the peace, county clerks, etc. in places like rural Alabama and Mississippi cooperating.  This has very little potential for disorder and violence like the Civil Rights Movement, though, simply because gays from those areas for the most part are either in deep denial or have fled, so there is less potential for confrontation (obviously that wasn't the case with blacks).