So, Being the Glutton for Punishment That I Am...

I went back to the A Worshipping Christian web site, and they had just posted an article on "Do Gays Really Want to Get Married...?" Below is my response, but I was wondering about your thoughts on the subject... I know the bulk of you, dear readers, identify straight, so, being the noncensoring blogger that I am, I would like to know your honest thoughts and ideas about this topic that supposedly divides our nation so sharply. Even if you are not from the United States, it would still be great to hear your thoughts... And if you feel shy, you can always comment anonymously...

And now, my response...

---

Being that the iMAPP is run by Maggie Gallagher, right-wing conservative who is only overshadowed by Ann Coulter herself, expecting an objective, informative article from her is like expecting a leftist liberal view on this web site... it'll never happen... And this is this biggest understatement I think I've ever read on her web site: "No partisan politics." Yeah, and I'm Dolly Parton...

But to the meat of the article...

Just because all homosexual persons don't actually want to get married, is that any reason to deny it to them? Of course not! Straight marriage here is on the decline, does that mean the federal government should now take that right away from you and those like you? Absurd! Expecting all homosexuals to want to marry is like expecting all straight women to want to have a baby--it ain't ever gonna be true...

In fact, from the Dutch web site on census and population statistics, the "declining rate" noted at 6.3% in the article is actually the norm for the entire whole of the Dutch population--so almost the exact number of straight who marry in the Netherlands is the same as the number of homosexuals who marry... See the link here. But in case you don't want to, here is the statistic...

Marriage rate 6.4 [15th of 28]

In addition, ever since homosexuals have been allowed to marry there, of course there would be a higher amount at first! And as time went, one would expect to see the number and percentage of marriages to level out to the overall norm, so calling it a decline is an extreme exaggeration on the article's part...

In addition, gay marriage hasn't impacted straight marriage in any way, shape, or form. See Gay Marriage in The Netherlands Proves No Impact on Straight Marriage.

For a better understanding of who among the gay population are getting married, how many have children, and a better assessment as to the overall number of what the percentage of homosexuals might be in the Netherlands, click here.

For proof that even the number of divorces is also equal to the number of divorces among the straight population, see here.

And where did this magical "only 2.5% of the population" from? The Dutch don't take census by "orientation" (in fact, no country does!). These are guesses that can't be accurate as the number of people who identify as gay is always much less than actually are do to the stigma of being labeled as "gay," and the backlash that comes with that in most cases, so there's no way of knowing... and even if it were only 2.5 percent of the population, doesn't that make gays any less entitled to the secular and civic benefits of marriage? You know the answers no, so it's a moot point to argue that just because there's less of them means they don't need it or want it... Should we deny black, Hispanics, and other non-whites the right to marry as they make up so much less of the US population than whites? Of course not! Or how about denying them the right to vote? I mean, there are so many less of them, why do they need to vote? What possible effect could them voting have on their lives?

Oh, I know! Let's deny redheads the right to wear hats! They only make up TWO PERCENT of the U.S. population... There are so few of them, do they need rights at all? I mean, seriously!

Individual rights and freedoms are for all, whether or not people choose to partake of those available rights...

So whether or not gays decide to marry, the secular and civil (read: non-religious) rights and responsibilities thereof should be made available, whether you agree with the lifestyle or not...

Would you deny the right to atheists? Buddhists? Hindus? Pagans? Why or why not? You claim the institution is sacred, and would be defiled by gays partaking of it... But as you can see from the links above, not only is the institution not affected in the country that has made the rights available the longest, neither has that country fallen off the face of the earth or been destroyed by the wrathful and just sky god...

So I'm curious as to what you think might happen to you and yours if they do get married? What's the real issue here?