Heres your chance to come out of the closet

[freetobegay]

It's a simple question, don't need a long blown out answer. Please just answer yes or no.

Make Gay Marriage part of the Democratic platform or not.

[knowbody0]

1. yes, just by the laws of our constitution,IT IS LEGAL

[Onlooker]

2. No

Have the state provide only civil unions to any couple, straight or gay, wishing to be joined. (I'm a gay married man, by the way.)

[tedoll78]

7. I agree.

And I too am a gay married man.

[BoX o BooX]

10. I second this vote.

The state has no business in marriage, ANY marriage. It's simply none of the state's business. If you want to formalize relationships, fine, but the state has NO compelling interest for interfering in marriage.

[Sabriel]

61. Yes, "marriage is religious," "union" is not.

I support equity for all couples, and I'd like to see unions sanctioned by the government, marriages by churches.

[Wat_Tyler]

3. Absolutely. I stand by my human sisters and brothers.

This is not a gay issue. This is a human issue.

[mondo joe]

4. It doesn't need to be part of the party platform.

I strongly support same sex marriage.

It doesn't need to be part of the party platform.

[bigwillq]

5. Yes

We are human beings that deserve the same rights as all other human beings.

[Carolinian]

6. NO!

[iwantmycountryback]

8. No.

[WilmywoodNCparalegal]

9. All men are created equal...

it doesn't say anything about only heterosexual men and women... I am a married straight woman. I want people to have the same type of legally recognized commitment and all the rights attached thereto, regardless of whether the couple is homosexual or heterosexual. What business is it of mine what two grown adults do in the bedroom if it does not hurt me or involve a minor?

[Touchdown]

11. Yes.

If you need to ask how, then look up the word bigotry and USE it!

[seabeyond]

12. not

take marriage out of civil court only available thru church, all the rest of us, (me married for a decade in hetero union) will have civil unions. i dont have to have the title marriage, not indictive of what husband or i have. nor does a gay need the word marriage. we will all come to your side in civil unions.

work for anyone. i dont need to go head on with these fundies. i know a lot of people that allowed this attack on gays are going to regret it. this is not the majority of just a year ago when polls were taken. something happened in a year. fuck,........i could see bush pumping votes to that thru his machine too.

[ulysses]

13. the country's not ready, but it's been forced on us.

Yes.

[terrya]

14. Yes, goddammit, YES.

Either you're for full equality for ALL Americans or you're a bigot. Pure and simple.

[freetobegay]

19. Just look at all the no's here.

And yet they try to tell me I am equal. There is more hypocrisy here on DU than free republic.com At least there I know where I stand. I like to know who my enimies are thats why I did this thread.

[DrWeird]

24. the people who say "no" are people I've never heard of before.

With the exception of one, who's giving some wishy washy answer.

Freepers. All of 'em.

[mondo joe]

26. You should note that opposition to a platform is not opposition to...

You should note that opposition to a platform is not opposition to the thing itself.

I STRONGLY support same sex marriage.

I just don't think it needs to be a party platform.

[terrya]

27. I'm shocked at what I've been reading here.

I swear, it almost seems like I stumbled into the Christian Coalition or some such hateful bullshit. I honestly can't believe some of this stuff...being told we "don't belong in the Democratic Party" and that we should just shut the fuck up about getting the same GODDAMNED rights these people have.

[DrWeird]

39. look, they're freepers people.

They decided tuesday was too hot to unmask so they're doing it now.

[terrya]

48. I know...I'm a little on edge this week

Given that those sick fucks are a part of 11 states essentially spitting on me. I'm still trying to sort out that bullshit.

[Not Me]

15. YES

[AlaTide]

16. No

civil unions for everyone, but I dont see that happening.

[babylonsister]

17. Yes-approve civil unions. nt

[DrWeird]

18. yes.

we should have done this a long time ago. Fucking bigots.

[Julien Sorel]

20. If it is done, it means a super majority to

the Republicans in the Senate, and 2008 is down the drain barring a disastrous economy. How would that advance the cause of gay rights?

[Vickers]

21. Yes

I don't think we will win an election for 20 years, but my principles tell me that I gotta do the right thing.

[dsc]

22. Until we can get LGBT voters

to vote more strongly for the Democrats we honestly shouldn't be asking for anying in the platform. That 23% of LGBT voters voted for Bush despite his call for that Constitutional Amendment is a scandal in our own house that we have to fix before we start hollering about the scandal in other people's houses.

[Waverley_Hills_Hiker]

44. What was your source for that statistic...23%

That is pretty shocking. I would expect some votes for Bush, but not that many.

[dsc]

47. CNN exit polling

It is on their website.

[Waverley_Hills_Hiker]

51. Good Grief!

Heck, even Andrew Sullivan gave up on Bush!

[dsc]

55. I have no earthly idea why this happened

The scary thing is that Bush only lost 2% over 2000 and basically gained in number over the same period. The only LGBT voters who actually changed their votes were those who voted for Nader in 2000 who voted for Kerry this time.

[HappinessPie]

23. Yes - every citizen should have the same rights!

[Cats Against Frist]

25. No.

But civil unions for both gay and straight marriages. Get the "marrying" part out of government altogether.

[Bush was AWOL]

28. I voted against the ban

but no, I don't think it should be part of any platform for either party. It is a very divisive issue that clearly the majority of the country (voters) don't support.

If Democrats want to keep losing they'll fight for this.

If you support Gay marriage and really want to do something about this then your going to have to take the same approach blacks did in the civil rights movement, which is do it on your own cause I seriously doubt many Democrats will make a strong push in favor of Gay Marriage after this last election.

This is one issue I'd bet they want to go away.

[freetobegay]

29. When the issue goes away so do te votes.

And the votes of ffamily members & the votes of sincere friends. Do you really want to go down that road?

[Bush was AWOL]

38. I'm not talking about myself personally

cause I'm against all racism, bogtry and discrimination of any sort. I'm just giving my opinion on why it won't be part of the platform and why, in my opinion Democratic leaders will feel it shouldn't.

To tell you the truth, I'm just blown away that religious folks think Jesus or God would favor this sort blatant discrimination. And, I don't understand why they think it affects their personal or family's lives.

[The_Casual_Observer]

30. Don't we have enough federal laws?

Only if it would make a real difference as far as insurance and so on.

[freetobegay]

33. Yes we do have to many Federal laws

So lets do away with some of them. A woman's right to vote, A womans right to choose, Slavery. If we get rid of these we will have less Federal laws. :eyes:

[Pushed To The Left]

31. I support same-sex marriage

It might be risky to put on the platform because America is so damn conservative. I would put the more general idea of equality for everybody or gay rights on the platform, because both of those things include same-sex marriage.

[rockydem]

32. Then why did you vote for Kerry?

Didn't you see him as an "enemy"? You're freaking out - calm down.

[freetobegay]

36. I would have voted for a rock over Bush!

I am not freaking out, this thread proves it.

On edit: This was the last time I do that. I will not support any candidate that does not support me in my quest for equal rights.

[KennedyGuy]

34. As a gay male

I think the whole "marriage" issue is a red herring. Who the hell wants a marriage sanctioned by some church that does not approve of us. What I want is equal rights...call it whatever you want...civil union...whatever. The important part is the equality part. Focusing on the term marriage is what enabled the repugs to bash us with the issue and to scare the southern states.

[Frangible]

35. NOT at the federal level for now-- focus our efforts on the state/local

level.

It doesn't matter what we think here. We CANNOT WIN AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL WITH THIS.

But we can work toward that goal by achieving progress for gay rights at the state and local level. This will not happen overnight. But we can make it happen.

[NightTrain]

37. FUCK YEAH!!!

[Waverley_Hills_Hiker]

40. No...nothing gay at all in the platform.

We might as well face the music on this one issue, at this time at least.

[bicentennial_baby]

41. Yes

Equal rights for all.

[Bluebear]

42. I don't care what it's called as long as it has equal benefits

100%

[AZCat]

57. Yes! You could call it "box-turtle love"...

As long as it has that.

After all, what's in a name? If the churches want to hold on to the term "marriage", fine by me. Let's drop the state sanction of marriage altogether, and instead just have civil unions (or box-turtle love, if that's your poison). The churches can tack on any extra (non-governmental) labels they want, as long as (as plastic_turkeys states) everyone has access to equal benefits.

[Bluebear]

59. Well, that's settled.

:)

[manic expression]

43. Yes

We must support gay marriage.

[Atman]

45. NO! If you support the CONSTITUTION, there is NO NEED

That is why this is such a stupid, divisive argument. We are ALL equal under the law. PERIOD. There is not reason this cannot be explained in a thoughtful, intelligent way without making it about gay, straight, purple, handicapped, etc.

[Walt Starr]

46. Not the way you describe it, no

If we make Personal Freedom a part of the platform, well, that's a different story.

"Gay Marriage" in the platform phrased exactly that way would guarantee a Republican Supermajority.

[Cats Against Frist]

49. Wait -- when do I get a chance to make a post that says

that my far-lefted-ness is being offended for any people -- gay or straight -- that need to have their marriages recognized by the state in the first fucking place?

Screw tradition -- why do people need to get married, anyway -- gay or straight?

[freetobegay]

52. Benefits for starters.

[kohodog]

50. yes. we need to take a stand for what's right, not because it's

politically convenient. Part of the reason Kerry lost is because he was so luke warm on everything because he didn't want to offend anyone. Sorry, Wellstone wouldn't have have approached it this way.

[Bush was AWOL]

54. And Wellstone would've got whipped

far worse than Kerry. I'm not against civil unions or gay marriage, but if you wnat Democrats to fight for this, they'll be finished long before the fight is done.

[formernaderite]

53. My brother is gay, but totally anti-bourgeois on these issues

...he loves to shock the mall folks by wearing his twenty year old non-breeder t-shirt. He has huge issues with this push to replicate the hetero community. I don't know....I'm totally uninterested in the governments recognition of marriage hetero or homo.

[GodHelpUsAll2]

56. Absolutely

Without a doubt. Yes yes and yes! However, I am also of the beliefe that the whole sanctity of marriage is laugable. 50+ percent divorce rate people. Nothing sacred about that.

[GreenPartyVoter]

58. Yes.

-----------------------------------------------------------
FIGHT! Take this country back one town and state at a time!
http://www.geocities.com/greenpartyvoter/electionreform.htm

[inmania]

60. yes. either we're all equal under the law or no one can count on being so

[Chimpanzee]

62. I believe this is a state and court issue

[indigobusiness]

63. I'm not gay, but I'm fond of closets.

What does that make me?



(and I love these people. so to speak.)

[creeksneakers2]

64. The gays have contributed so much to the party

They have a right to love each other too. I think the party owed more than a middle ground on this, even if it cost the election. Those wingers should have been told that they should mind their own business.

[davepc]

66. I'll trade 500,000 votes in New York for 500,000 in Ohio

[mondo joe]

67. How you gonna get them?

What do you suggest the DNC say "oops - we were wrong about civil right. Our bad. We're anti gay now too."

Nice set up to be proven a flip flopper.

[bacchant]

65. Maybe