Annoy’d
I have to rant …
Recently, Adam Lambert of American Idol fame was blasphemized for a racy number during this years AMA’s in which he – during the moment – kissed a member of his band who happened to also have a penis.
The aftermath of this has been devastating for Lambert as Good Morning America and other outlets are trickling down their cancellations of his appearances and appointments on their shows.
What gets me is that when Britney/Madonna and Christina Aguilera did it during the VMA’s a few years back it was a “gasp” moment but, wasn’t a downright catastrophe like the Lambert kiss.
So now we get back to the double standards of society. It’s completely alright for two girls to make out/kiss/have sex/grind together … (are you turned on yet?) but if two guys do any of the above it’s puke worthy?
How is that OK?
This now brings me to a topic that I’m SURE I’m going to get a lot of heat about – Prop 8 and the like.
I am a LARGE supporter for gay rights. Being a musical theater major and growing up in the theater my entire life, as well as having some VERY close gay friends, makes it a no brainer for me to agree with the gay community that having the same government/state laws available for a same sex couple is only fair.
What I believe the hold up is in the gay marriage act is the actual term MARRIAGE. Marriage is a religious institution. It is something that is taken from the bible and other religious books and is described as a union between a man and a woman.
What I feel the problem is is that it’s not the WORD that should be changed. If same sex couples have the EXACT same rights – in the eyes of the law – then that is your fight! If it’s the term MARRIAGE that you want to change, then that is another fight all together. That is a fight in the church’s and not on a governmental level.
Yes, we should all have the same rights and benefits. Yes, two people in love SHOULD be able to share finances, make wills together and share benefits. But, is the term marriage really your fight? If it is, then how does the government have anything to do with that? Last I checked, there was a seperation between church and state.
I will continue to always support my homosexual friends. I just wonder if sometimes we are fighting the wrong battles. Equality for all! Equality for how gay men and women are judged. Equality for how gays and straight couples are given their rights. Equality for blacks, hispanics, whites, jewish, asian and women. Equality.
Very insightful, and I agree completely. I just moved to CA from a VERY conservative area, and one of the things I look forward to most is a greater degree of acceptance and tolerance, even though I, myself, am not homosexual.
Anyway, I just wanted to say that I saw you on Brawl, absolutely loved it, and wanted to tell you best of luck with all your future endeavours! I am actually a screenwriter (another reason I moved to CA) and if I’m ever lucky enough to have one of my scripts (or novels) OK’d, I’ll definitely know where to start
Best wishes,
Jeremy
*know where to start as far as casting goes…
Well Madonna the kiss, while a gasp moment, wasnt a big deal because A: female kissing on TV isn’t exactly a novelity anymore, B: Madonna is ironically not the poster child for sexual restraint, and C: when you publish a book called Sex, what else is there to do.
Now marriage, there is two things that I have yet to see brought up. Marriage was, way back in the midevil times, a way to establish “official” children from “unofficial” children. So that when the King/Duke/Whatever cranked out a kid with his wife, that kid was the heir to all property attached to the title. Any illegitimiate kid (interesting term in this context, isn’t it?) had no such claim.
The second, and biggest, problem I have is with the debate itself. To set the stage, I am not married, I doubt I will ever get married, and the state I live in has yet to have a vote either way on the subject. So personally I really don’t care either way. The people voting for Prop 8 are taking the position, as Ms. Denise stated eariler that its a religious institution, and as such should be held as such under an official law.
The vocal opposition to Prop 8, and this is where I have the problem, are attacking the people supporting Prop 8 instead of debating the issue itself. Its called Prop Hate, if you support it your are calleda homophobe, or worse, and are routinenly mocked/harassed/guilted into changing sides in the debate. If you want me to take your side, give me a reason to take your side. Don’t try to shame me into taking your side by default by portraying the other side as some type of sinister position.
Again, on the issue, I really don’t care. Two guys want to hook up, great. Thats two less guys I have to compete with. It’s even better when they are hot, I need all the help I can get. But I am not going to take your side in the marriage debate because you say there is something wrong with me if I “don’t” take your side. How is that any better than people who say what you are doing is wrong “because they said so.”
I don’t really agree that marriage is necessarily a religious institution; it could be a civil institution as well. (Judges have just as much authority to marry couples as religious leaders do.) I think part of the problem is that there is so much confusion as to whether it is a civil or religious issue, but in my mind it’s perfectly clear:
I can’t cite any particular examples, but I’m quite sure that there are federal laws about marriage. If marriage is considered a religious issue, then those laws violate the first amendment and must be overturned on the grounds that they are unconstitutional. (“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion…”) The alternative is to consider marriage a strictly civil issue, NOT a religious one. (Which takes the wind right out of the religious zealots’ sails on the gay marriage debate.)
But given how long it’s been, surely someone has already made a similar argument…
I really don’t like it when people half-quote that part of the first amendment in the constitution…”or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
Making no law respecting an establishment of religion only means that the country can not have an “Official” religion.
The constitution has no law either for or against gays and marriage. Thus the 10th amendment, which states that any power not specifically given to the Federal government is, by default, the power of the state. Most of the laws revolving around marriage involve ending it. Division of property, support for divorced party members, care and welfare of children. The only exception I can think of on the top of my head is the fact that you can’t have more than one spouse at a time.
I didn’t think that the rest of the 1st amendment was relevant. Apologies for not quoting it in full, though.
Nevertheless, I still think there needs to be some consensus as to whether marriage is a religious or civil issue before any progress is made on the gay marriage debate.
On a different note, doesn’t the law forbidding polygamy prohibit the free exercise of religions that allow polygamy?
You go, Becky! This is exactly what I’ve been saying for YEARS now… If you added up the people who are for “Gay Marriage” and the people who are for “Civil Unions” or “Domestic Partnerships” or whatever the current terminology is, you’ll have a majority. All they need to do is remove the idea of “marriage” from the law books and replace it with “civil unions,” then grandfather clause all existing marriages into the new system, and work from there. Then, you can define “civil unions” however you want: man/woman, man/man, woman/woman, man/woman/woman, man/man/woman, group, man/cat, man/cactus, or however sane or insane you want the law to be. If there truly is “separation of church and state” (which is not actually IN the Constitution or Bill of Rights, by the way), then a religiously-loaded term like “marriage” should not be in the law books.
I think I just fell in love with you. I completely agree. There should never be a line drawn on someones rights. There should always be equality in this world for everyone, no matter what. I have some gay friends and I treat them the same as I do my straight friends. I have black friends and I treat them the same as my Latino, white, Asian, Indian, English, Russian and etc friend. Everyone should just be honest with the world and not hide their feelings. The golden rule still applies to this world and you should treat others how you wish to be treated. I applaud you Ms. Aktrez. Bravo! You have just jumped onto my Save during the apocalypse list. We need more people like you in this world.
We are a society based on double standards here in America. A woman has legally all the same rights as a man but can’t be forced to defend the country like he is when he has to sign the draft. On a flip side if a guy gets laid with a different woman every week he is a legend, where if a woman gets laid with even 2 different guys in a year she is a slut. I think we can call it even. Gays should not be aloud to marry. They should be allowed to get all the rights a married couple gets without having to jump through a bunch of hoops to get it.