Annnyway, onto the OP article
We have great compassion for people who struggle with their sexuality and gender identity—not animosity. And we love our parents. Yet, when we go public with our stories, we often face ostracism, silencing, and threats.
That seems like an asshole problem, not a gay marriage one
Why do police prosecute speech under the guise of eliminating “hate speech” when there are existing legal remedies and criminal protections against slander, defamation, threats, and assault that equally apply to all Americans? Hate-crime-like policies using the terms “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” create unequal protections in law, whereby protected groups receive more legal protection than other groups.
No argument here, people should be able to say what they want short of inciting violence. However, if you attack somebody and it's motivated by that it doesn't seem unreasonable to provide the same protections as an attack based on religion, race, etc... Whether those laws should exist or not, if we're punishing motivated crimes heavier then at least include them.
The 'mob hysteria' was over the potential to turn people away from a public business based on their lifestyle. If you run a business, you're open to everybody. It's not a church. It was also quite civilized. Nobody was rioting in the streets, just protesting the state.
The vast majority of same-sex couples adopt their children. It's growing up in a loving family vs in a state care facility to raise as many as possible. Nevermind the fact that they're not worse off than the general population. The biggest issue honestly seems like it would be people that harass them over it
When same-sex marriage was legalized in Canada in 2005, parenting was immediately redefined. Canada’s gay marriage law, Bill C-38, included a provision to erase the term “natural parent” and replace it across the board with gender-neutral “legal parent” in federal law. Now all children only have “legal parents,” as defined by the state. By legally erasing biological parenthood in this way, the state ignores children’s foremost right: their immutable, intrinsic yearning to know and be raised by their own biological parents.
That's not a gay marriage issue, that's a shitty law issue. You can easily have one without the other.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that men and women are anatomically, biologically, physiologically, psychologically, hormonally, and neurologically different from each other. These unique differences provide lifelong benefits to children that cannot be duplicated by same-gender “legal” parents acting out different gender roles or attempting to substitute for the missing male or female role model in the home.
So should we make every couple take a personality test to make sure the father isn't feminine and soft, and the mother isn't harsh and tough? Having only one parent can make you worse off, but that's as much of it putting you in worse economic circumstances, more time the children are alone because of work, the knowledge of having a parent in jail in some cases....
Just for fun, here's yet another study showing children of same-sex couples aren't worse off. The author of this is making a lot of claims without anything to back it up.
Anyone who is offended by something you have said or written can make a complaint to the Human Rights Commissions and Tribunals. In Canada, these organizations police speech, penalizing citizens for any expression deemed in opposition to particular sexual behaviors or protected groups identified under “sexual orientation.” It takes only one complaint against a person to be brought before the tribunal, costing the defendant tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees. The commissions have the power to enter private residences and remove all items pertinent to their investigations, checking for hate speech.
The plaintiff making the complaint has his legal fees completely paid for by the government. Not so the defendant. Even if the defendant is found innocent, he cannot recover his legal costs. If he is found guilty, he must pay fines to the person(s) who brought forth the complaint.
You can have gay marriage and still keep freedom of speech. This sounds like a system that really could use some adjustment, but the answer isn't just to toss gay marriage out entirely because we went too far with censorship.
Parents can expect state interference when it comes to moral values, parenting, and education—and not just in school. The state has access into your home to supervise you as the parent, to judge your suitability. And if the state doesn’t like what you are teaching your children, the state will attempt to remove them from your home.
Teachers cannot make comments in their social networks, write letters to editors, publicly debate, or vote according to their own conscience on their own time. They can be disciplined or lose any chance of tenure. They can be required at a bureaucrat’s whim to take re-education classes or sensitivity training, or be fired for thinking politically incorrect thoughts.
You're telling me there's a class on how to not call a dude a dude? I call bullshit on this part. Using language that includes everyone isn't wrong if you're just trying to, well, refer to everyone.
The right to discriminate as a business is not a right. If you're open, you're open to all. I live in the deep south, and given the choice there would be a toooon of places that would turn away gay people. You shouldn't have to look all around to find somewhere to take your money, or call ahead to make sure a business is 'gay-friendly' any more than if it's black-friendly.
An example of legally curtailed speech regarding homosexuality in Canada involves the case of Bill Whatcott, who was arrested for hate speech in April 2014 after distributing pamphlets that were critical of homosexuality. Whether or not you agree with what he says, you should be aghast at this state-sanctioned gagging. Books, DVDs, and other materials can also be confiscated at the Canadian border if the materials are deemed “hateful.”
Soooo let them keep talking. I have no problem with crazies like Pat Robertson rambling on TV about the gays trying to infect people with AIDS rings. However, the majority of private channels are probably going to not want to cause controversy like that, and they have a right to govern what's on. Soon enough nobody will want to just because it makes you look like an asshole.
Nothing against handing stuff out that says you're going to hell. I had some random Christian give me a pamphlet on "Hell-bound and Who Cares" chilling at my motel on vacation. Wasn't even doing anything wrong, just look crazy I guess. People should just laugh that stuff off.
tl;dr: Say what you want, don't discriminate as a business, let people get married. Kids aren't worse off.