Gay marriage in UK set for vote

[Josquius]

In Britain gay marriage really isn't the big deal it seems to be in the US. Most people, including gays, seem not to care much one way or the other.
Gay people can already get civil unions which are marriages in all but the name on the document and everyone calls marriages anyway so there's not really much fuss at all about the official naming except from the extremes of both sides (primarily the anti side).
Maybe its because Brits in general don't care about the religious side of marriage wheras Americans do.

I pretty much agree with the general view. Gay marriage is an unimportant issue. It should exist of course, but that some people do think its such a major thing is just hilariously weird.

[Eddie Teach]

Gay marriage isn't that big a deal in the US either.

[Viking]

Is this the one where they get to choose between allowing gay marriage or leaving the EU?

[Martinus]

Gay marriage isn't that big a deal in the US either.

That's rather rich, considering DOMA is still law of the land.

[Eddie Teach]

That's rather rich, considering DOMA is still law of the land.

Non sequitur. Something doesn't have to be legal to be unimportant.

[crazy canuck]

That's rather rich, considering DOMA is still law of the land.

Non sequitur. Something doesn't have to be legal to be unimportant.

I am wondering what you mean by unimportant.  Is it unimportant because most people dont think gay marriage should be allowed and so the status quo in the US is fine?

[Eddie Teach]

Well don't forget the original qualifier "that". I don't believe gay marriage is as important to Americans as it is in tyr's head. It certainly doesn't affect the way most people vote.

[Josquius]

I certainly see an awful lot of reporting on it from the US. If its not actually a big deal over there you're certainly presenting a weird picture of yourselves.

[garbon]

Or you're interpreting a weird picture of us.

[Eddie Teach]

It gets press because the public is still fairly evenly split over the issue(though that's been steadily changing as old people die off and young people get the vote) and because every time a new state legalizes it(or fails to) it's a chance for the media to run the same stories over again. The people watching the stories have much the same reactions as Brits do- either a blase "Cool" or a bit of muttering about how the world is going to hell and then forgetting about it.

[Jacob]

It gets press because the public is still fairly evenly split over the issue(though that's been steadily changing as old people die off and young people get the vote) and because every time a new state legalizes it(or fails to) it's a chance for the media to run the same stories over again. The people watching the stories have much the same reactions as Brits do- either a blase "Cool" or a bit of muttering about how the world is going to hell and then forgetting about it.

There certainly seems to be a fair amount of Americans, both pro- and con- gay marriage, who think it's a big deal and go on at great lengths about it. It features fairly heavily in political rhetoric, it's used to motivate specific blocks of voters, there's been legislative and judicial battles about it in all sorts of places, and the supreme court is about to weigh in on the issue.

In view of that, I don't think it's unfair to say that gay marriage is a big deal.

On the other hand it does seem that the majority view is shifting towards the "sure, let gays marriage - it doesn't affect me, so why not" and that even the conservative and religious right are beginning the rhetorical manoeuvres to shift their stance as they recognize they're losing the fight. So in that sense, it's not unfair to say it's not a big deal - the majority sentiment seems to be solidifying into casual acceptance and the political reality is moving in fits and spurts towards reflecting that.

But it's still a major battle in a long running culture clash that's apparently coming to an end, and it still generates rhetorical heat, news headlines, and political funding. So personally, I'd still classify it as a pretty big deal in recent US political discourse.

[OttoVonBismarck]

Big deal compared to what? Exit polling has consistently shown it is a major factor in voting decisions. Where it is unpopular, people will vote it down, but it's nothing at all like the abortion battle which energies massive organization of die hard extremists and mobilizes hundreds of millions of dollars in political spending.

I mean, it's not as unimportant to voters as arcane issues like foreign policy, but I'd say it appears less important than immigration, gun control, and abortion among the "fluff" issues (fluff being my term for things that don't really matter.)

[Eddie Teach]

On the other hand it does seem that the majority view is shifting towards the "sure, let gays marriage - it doesn't affect me, so why not"

See, this is the error in you and Marty's position, that considering the issue relatively unimportant defaults to acceptance. There are plenty of folks who will vote against it given the chance, but don't really think about the issue at all. I don't see any reason to think Americans in general care about the issue more than Brits, Canadians or Poles.

[Admiral Yi]

I think the people who don't give any thought to gay marriage are the type that likely do not vote.

[Eddie Teach]

Can we refocus this discussion away from absolute values of concern to relative ones? I'm considerably less interested in parsing exactly how much Americans care than with the notion that we care so much more than Brits.