Originally
posted by
Dibs Ludicrous:
i forget. why do they have to get married again? so they can provide a loving environment and demonstrate stability to raise the children that they ain't going to produce?
With that logic, lets ban old people past reproductive age from marrying. Also, throw in infertile hetero couples as well, since they can't reproduce either. Seriously though, how exactly are two people in a committed, loving relationship wanting to receive the same rights as everyone else does, going to hurt you or impact your life?
Marriage is a contract between two people. You get your marriage license from the state you live it. In fact, it doesn't even require a religious personage to perform the ceremony.
Holy matrimony is the religious institution that most people refer to as marriage.
In fact, unless you go through the proper process, file the correct paperwork, you are not married by the law, only within the church. Which is why most church ministers/priests/etc are officers of the state.
For a country all about freedom, we apparently very intent on denying groups we don't understand or agree with or even hate those basic freedoms we take for granted. In the past, we persecuted and denied rights to african-americans, to women, to inter-racial couples. Now, we are doing the same to same-sex couples.
They want the same rights hetero couples get, such as:
Social Security Benefits
-Spousal survivor benefit
-Surviving child benefit
-Spousal retirement benefit
-Lump-sum death benefit
Tax Benefits
-Filing joint income tax returns with the IRS
-Creating a "family partnership."
-Child Tax Credit
-Head of household status
-EIC credit
-Health insurance tax (burden on employee and employee)
-Tax on Gain from the Sale of the Taxpayer’s Principal Residence
-Estate Tax
Estate Tax and Estate Planning Benefits
-Estate and gift tax exemption
-Estate Tax "Portability."
-life estate trusts
Veteran and Military Benefits
Federal Employment Benefits
Immigration Benefits
FMLA
The LGBT community is not going to destroy the sanctity of marriage. Heteros have been doing that for thousands of years. 50% of marriage ends in divorce. Obviously, the "sanctity" of marriage is a problem already. They are also not going to "screw up" their kids. Not anymore than heteros have been doing for ages.