Monday 14 August 2017

Nine responses to bigots who oppose same sex marriage.


Here are nine responses you can make to people who say they oppose Same Sex Marriage.

1.      Marriage is by definition between a man and a woman.


Wrong. That is not the “definition” of marriage. The word marriage simply means “joining together.”  It’s like saying the definition of alcohol is “a beverage that cannot be sold to anyone under 18 years of age.” The definition of alcohol is a beverage that contains ethanol. “Between a man and a woman” is a local limitation placed on marriage just like the age restriction is a limitation placed on alcohol. It’s not the definition.

This is demonstrated that, just as the age you can legally drink changes from place to place, many countries recognise Same Sex marriage as the same as Male-Female marriage, so the  “between a man and a woman” condition is clearly a local issue.


2.      “I don’t mind same sex couple living together but it shouldn’t be called a ‘marriage’. Give it another name.”

This is pretty much the same as saying, “I don’t mind a bunch of women going out onto an oval with stumps, a bat and a ball and bowling the bowl and hitting it with the bat and scoring runs but don’t call it ‘cricket’. Cricket is a game played by men.”

Things should be called by their proper names. Cricket is cricket and marriage is marriage.


3.      Legalising Same Sex Marriage will change our societies forever.

Yes, for the better.


4.      Legalising Same Sex Marriage will change our societies for the worse.

Firstly, “legalising” is not a good word. Same Sex Marriage is not currently illegal. It is perfectly legal for Same Sex couples to live in marriage-type relationships.

Secondly, those marriage-type relationships ARE currently recognised as legal marriages by a many government and private organisations. Centrelink, the ATO, the Family Court and courts in general will recognise those relationships as de facto marriages and treat the partners accordingly.
“Ahh,” says the homophobe, “But de fact marriages are not real marriages.”

Yes, they ARE. That why they include the word “marriage”. Saying a de facto marriage is not a marriage is like saying a yellow car isn’t a real car. Yes, it is a real car, it’s a yellow car.


5.      “Why should a small minority of people (meaning gays) tell us what to do?”

The gay community is not trying to tell others what to do. They are not trying to place restrictions on Male Female relationships, so why are people trying to place restrictions on gay relationships? They only want to be able to do what everyone else is doing.


6.      “The people have a right to be consulted about this change.”

Why? They weren’t consulted when the “a man and a woman” clause was added only a few years ago. They weren’t consulted when homosexual acts were decriminalised.

As I’ve mentioned before, had you conducted a plebiscite in the state of Mississippi in 1960 as to whether African Americans should be able to vote, it is highly probably that the majority of Mississippians would have voted “no.”  If that were the case, should the government have legislated accordingly and restricted the vote in that state to whites only? Of course not. It is not part of the democratic process that any majority can deprive a minority of rights that they themselves enjoy. The right to vote must be universal. The right to marry whom you want must also be universal.


7.      “I’m sick of being bullied by these LGBTI extremists.”

Cry me a fucking river. Do you want to talk about the bullying that gay, lesbian and trans people have had to put up with for two thousand years?


8.      “It’s such a huge change.”

No, it’s just a technicality. It only means that Same Sex couples get to sign a marriage certificate at the end of their wedding. That’s all. It’s just about a certificate which then gets filed with the Registry of Births Marriages and Deaths. It creates a public record of your relationship which is what "legal" marriage is really all about.


9.      “Just because I’m opposed to Same Sex Marriage doesn’t make me a homophobe."

Yes it does.